Demantoid garnet, Asbestos, Calcite

Sferlùn asbestos mine, Vallone del Cengiaccio, Lanzada, Sondrio Province, Lombardy, Italy

9x5x2,5 cm. (Demantoid group 1,5×1,2 cm.)

Demantoid is the most spectacular and sought-after mineral of Val Malenco. The most beautiful crystals have been found, included in asbestos or implanted in the serpentine, in the Sferlun quarry. This specimen is highly representative and absolutely uncommon; an aggregate of green and shiny garnet crystals is aestethically embedded in the asbestos matrix, on the top we can observe a series of white calcite crystals with very good luster, a perfect exemple from this classic italian locality.