Messina became famous for it's quartz. It is by far the most abundant and attractive mineral from a collectors standpoint because of the habits and varieties of size and groups, together with several colourful secondary mineral inclusions. The inclusions of shattuckite, papagoite and ajoite are in particular spectacular. The brecciation of the ore bodies provided the space for crystals, in some cases almost 1 m long. The Messina Mine (No. 5 Shaft) is in well known for its wealth in beautiful quartz crystals ranging from mircoscopic to a metre in size. Coubly terminated crystals over 10 cm in length have often been found. Almost all of the larger crystals are zoned inernally and one can find over a dozen phantom layers in some crystals. These zones consist of minute layers of hematite, kaolinite, edidote and chlorite. Clear euhedral quartz is commonly found as an outer layer over a zoned core which is coated by hematite, epidote, talc, sericite, chlorite, zeolites, malachite or azurite. The presence of flaky specular hematite gives a striking sparkle to the well-formed clear crystals. Hollow kaolinic spherules are also sometimes found inside the core of quartz crystals. A feature of the quartz crystals is that many are doubly terminated also the large crystal in a group is sometimes encirled by a peripheral halo of small crystals.
The quartz also occasionally partially or completely covered with calcite. The colour of the calite ranges from bright yellow or orange to white. Also large groups of calcite have been found in the Messina mines.Messina Quartz is a brand of quartz crystals with inclusions of many types of minerals.
The quartz also occasionally partially or completely covered with calcite. The colour of the calite ranges from bright yellow or orange to white. Also large groups of calcite have been found in the Messina mines.Messina Quartz is a brand of quartz crystals with inclusions of many types of minerals.
- Source: Bruce Cairncross
The quartz crystals found in Messina always have some sort of inclusion which makes these crystals absolutely special to collectors. Amongst Ajoite and Papagoite inclusion in quartz crystals, a number of other mineral inclusions in clear quartz is also found.
Specularite Hematite in Quartz |
Limonite in Quartz |
Ison-Rosen on Quartz |
In some cases we found some really ULTRA rare specimens such as eisen-rosen (Very rare Black Hematite Growth) and Limonite in Quartz Crystal. The quartz crystals from Messina, South Africa show unique and distinctive values that can only be described as rarities.
Below is a list of minerals identified in Messina, South Africa.
Ajoite* | Albite | Almandine | Analcime | Apatite |
Azurite* | Barite | Biotite | Bornite* | Calcite* |
Chalcocite* | Chalcopyrite* | Chlorite* | Clauthalite | Clinochlore |
Clinozoisite* | Copper* | Cordierite | Covellite | Digenite |
Epidote* | Goethite | Hematite* | Hematite variety specularite* | Hornblende |
Kaolinite* | Magnetite | Malachite* | Molybdenite | Muscovite variety sericite* |
Muscovite variety fuchsite | Papagoite* | Pennantite | Piemontite* | Prehnite |
Pyrite* | Pyrrhotite | Quartz | Shattuckite* | Sphalerite |
Zoisite* |
In the near future we will make some of these exquisite minerals available to you on our auction web site at http://www.mineralspecimenauction.com and http://www.messinaquartz.com