Quartz, Byssolite

Here is a cluster of three vertical and one horizontal sharp, well terminated, crystals showing inclusions of the acicular amphibole, byssolite. The three vertical crystals show a frosty transparent tip with the lower two-thirds displaying dense forest-green interior phantoms. Whereas the horizontal crystal is dense with the staw like inclusions. The cluster is not sawn at the base as many are. There are a couple non-distracting points of contact. All-in-all, this is a very nice piece to represent the locality.

The specimen comes from a newer, lesser known locality near Zeballos on Vancouver Island, British Columbia; the deposit is in a contact skarn. The crystals are often colloquially referred to as"forest quartz", due to the mossy appearance of the byssolite inclusions, making it easy to visualize a pocket of these crystals in the beautiful rain forest of B.C. Currently all collecting on the the claim has been halted pending the outcome of a court action by the local indigenous band. This makes it unlikely that we'll see new material coming from this locality any time soon.