Quartz with Calcite from Bor Mine TF2676

Quartz with Calcite from Bor Mine
Approx. Dimensions: 3.5x2.5x1.5 inches
Approx. Weight: 123 grams
Locality: Bor Mine, Dalnegorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia

This specimen of quartz is a cluster of interestingly shaped crystals with layers of dogtooth calcite crystals disperesed throughout. The many sharp, lustrous faces sparkle in the light. The calcite will fluoresce white under a long-wave UV light.

The Bor Mine, located in the Dalnegorsk mining district of Russia’s Far East, is one of the world’s most famous localities for quartz and associated sulfide minerals. Developed primarily in the mid-20th century as a lead-zinc operation, the mine became legendary among collectors for producing exceptionally well-crystallized quartz, often with complex growth features and sharp, lustrous faces.

Over decades of operation, the Bor Mine yielded a wide variety of collectible minerals including quartz, sphalerite, galena, calcite, and rare sulfosalts. Today, the mine is best known not for its industrial output, but for the museum-quality specimens it produced—many of which are considered benchmarks for quartz crystallization and have secured Dalnegorsk’s reputation as one of the great mineral localities of the world.