Lazurite

Without doubt, this fantastic inky azure-blue group of Lazurite crystals is a museum-grade specimen and is from the classic locality of Sar-e Sang, a mineralised marble-skarn deposit near to the confluence of the Sar-e-Sang and Koksha Rivers in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan.  The beautifully developed Lazurite crystals measure up to 3 cm at their widest points and form both flattened and barrel-shaped prisms with hexagonal pinacoid terminations.  Their colour is an exquisite mid-azure-blue with a micro-granular surface texture and aesthetic, velvety-matt lustre.  The Lazurite crystals sit on a matrix of blue-tinged creamy-white micro blades of Albite feldspar, mixed with a few small nodules of golden Pyrite.  A quite gorgeous Lazurite from Sar-e Sang.