Vesuvianite from Hamrefjell, Buskerud, Norway

This mineral specimen comes from Hamrefjell in the Norwegian county of Buskerud, a classic locality for vesuvianite, also known as idocrase. The specimen shows characteristic vesuvianite crystals up to approximately 1 cm on natural matrix and comes from a geologically significant contact-metamorphic area of the Oslo Rift.

Special Features of This Mineral Specimen

The vesuvianite is distinguished by its typical crystal habit and its origin from one of the best-known Norwegian localities for this mineral. Mineral specimens from Hamrefjell have been collected since the nineteenth century and are appreciated by collectors of classic Scandinavian localities.The specimen is suitable for mineral collections as well as geologically focused collections.

Locality

Hamrefjell is located in the municipality of Øvre Eiker in Buskerud and is geologically part of the Oslo Rift. The vesuvianite occurrences formed through contact metamorphism between igneous rocks and carbonate country rocks.Today, the area is protected as a geological nature reserve. Breaking or extracting minerals from the bedrock is prohibited.