Description
Location: Sakoany, Madagascar
Weight: 4 Pounds 7.8 Ounces
Dimensions: 8 Inches Long, 3.8 Inches Wide, 3 Inches Thick
The item pictured is the one you will receive.
Celestite or Celestine is a mineral consisting of strontium sulfate. The mineral is named for its occasional delicate blue color. Celestite occurs as crystals, and also in compact massive, and fibrous forms. It is mostly found in sedimentary rocks, often associated with the minerals gypsum, anhydrite, and halite. The mineral is found worldwide, usually in small quantities. Pale blue crystal specimens are found in Madagascar.
This famous Madagascar locality discovered in 1967 has an annual production of about 15 tons of the material. It is located near the village of Sakoany, on the western side of the banks of the Betsiboka River. The celestine-bearing layer is found in a maximum 30 m thick lens between layers of crinoidal limestones and sandy greywacke from the end of the Cretaceous. It is mined by digging shafts up to 15m (50 feet) deep in order to reach the deposits. The celestine occurs mainly in 2 different types: as geodes up to a maximum size of 60 cm in diameter, and as crystal clusters up to 15 cm in diameter.