Spessartine on Microcline from Tongbei, China

This spessartine specimen comes from the Tongbei mining area in Fujian Province, China. Numerous orange to reddish-orange spessartine crystals occur on a light-colored microcline matrix.

The garnets are distributed across several areas of the matrix and display a distinct vitreous luster. Their strong color contrasts clearly with the white to cream-colored microcline. With a length of 10 cm, the piece belongs to the cabinet specimen size category.

Spessartine from the Classic Tongbei Locality

The Tongbei mining area in Yunxiao County is internationally known for spessartine specimens from the Wushan Spessartine Mine. Since the late 1990s, numerous combinations of orange spessartine, light-colored microcline, and occasionally smoky quartz have reached the mineral market from this locality.

The spessartine crystals commonly occur as small, well-formed trapezohedral crystals. The combination of orange garnet and light-colored microcline matrix is characteristic of the well-known specimens from Tongbei.