RARE SPANISH ANDRADITE cluster - Height: 8.9 cm - Width: 8.7 cm- 367 g - (1)

A remarkable andradite specimen from a very uncommon skarn deposit in southwestern Spain. These deposits are formed in the contacts between marble bodies and granodioritic plutons, with most of the andradite being situated in the periphery of the main magnetite lenses that were worked for their rich iron content. In this case, the piece features a tightly intergrown cluster of two very large garnet crystals with complex and lustrous faces that appear surrounded by an abundance of smaller similar garnets and some less prominent calcite crystals. Pieces like this are a rarity even in old collections, as these mines are quite remote and unknown even for Spanish mineral collectors, but even when you find them, those never reach the crystal sizes seen on this piece.