Watch a video of this specimen by following the Vimeo link below: https://vimeo.com/927133186 I recently got acquainted with what is probably the most comprehensive collection of Kayes region skarn minerals, patiently gathered by a knowledgeable geologist and collector over more than 10 years directly on the field in this remote region of Mali: what a blast I had! The variety and quality of the Kayes minerals is much wider than I expected, with individual discoveries actually meeting the highest standards for garnet, vesuvianite or prehnite. In particular, the colour palette and facies diversity for andradite garnet simply ranks the Kayes skarns among the very best localities for the species on Earth. It is however quite hard and time-consuming to find quality specimens: after reaching Kayes from wherever you would stay, it does take a half day 4x4 truck ride on trails to make it to the villages where local miners and farmers live. Then several days on-site are needed, time for the field collectors from all neighbouring settlements to converge. Unfortunately, the skarn deposits artisanally mined there are thankless: most crystals are strongly oxidized or extracted in a poor condition due to the lack of free space for crystal growth and the mining methods used. Colorful, lustrous crystals are rare and fine garnets are often broken to reveal any gem core that could be valuable for the cut stone market. Actually, most of the time, a buyer would probably leave without any good rock. Then, repeat this procedure several times a year over a large number of years and you could possibly end up with fine Kayes mineral specimens! This is why I am thrilled to share with you the result of a careful and short selection among hundreds of collection pieces from Kayes I was lucky to search through. Here is a superb specimen of golden brown andradite on matrix! It features three pristine translucent andradite dodecahedrons (the focal crystal is 2.1 cm large) ideally set on top of a massive clear green skarn pyroxene matrix. As light goes through the gem layers inside the garnets, gold colour hints appear and change when displacing the viewing angle. A golden andradite garnet specimen of quite phenomenal quality! Plus, it is the only large matrix specimen I have.