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GeneralLargest Crystals of Any Type

26th Apr 2017 19:53 UTCScott Rider

I was enjoying reading the largest pollucite in the world and came across an interesting article. It probably was posted here before, but I figured people interested in the pollucite topic may like this article:


http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/arc/large_crystals.htm


Here is another link to interesting giant crystals:


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/741053313654905050/


Just thought this would be interesting read as it claims that the largest crystal ever found was 18 meter beryl crystal from Malakialina, Malagasy Republic (aka Madagascar). But the article does have examples of many other minerals and the dimensions of the largest crystal found of that species... It does NOT mention pollucite, so sorry no info for that here... And strangely it doesn't have quartz...


Anyone know of the African location that had gigantic quartz crystals, ones so big they made up part of the mountain? I swear I read something about that eons ago....

26th Apr 2017 20:03 UTCScott Rider

I just realized that some of the 2nd link is that metaphysical garbage... Sorry about that, I was more interested in the giant smoky cluster from Namibia!!!

26th Apr 2017 22:44 UTCcascaillou

Not the largest, but beautiful: the Naica 'geode'

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5a/0c/93/5a0c9337f0ee8503958065748abdd7c1.jpg

http://cdn.tourismontheedge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/article-1081072-02464596000005DC-280_636x9441.jpg


Btw, besides the french national museum of natural history (MNHM), are there any other museum displaying a collection of giant crystals?


http://files.offi.fr/lieu/2453/images/600/4fbd34935596a0099c5f3ff0ee0e35fa.jpg

27th Apr 2017 01:12 UTCScott Rider

Travis, you nailed it on the head! That is the exact location I was referring! Thanks for the link.

I love the Naica mine, boy I would love to visit the caves but the temperature is little warm for my taste.

27th Apr 2017 01:15 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

I once received photos of a single 18 ton quartz crystal some miners in Uganda were trying to flog. Unfortunately they had wrapped heavy chains around it and dragged it over the ground with a bulldozer, a process which left rather too many "dings" on it.

27th Apr 2017 01:43 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

What was the size of the beryl crystal from the Bumpus Quarry in Maine? As I remember, it was huge?

27th Apr 2017 02:20 UTCWayne Corwin

This one Donald?
https://www.mindat.org/photo-158144.html

27th Apr 2017 02:59 UTCcascaillou

I would love to visit the caves but the temperature is little warm for my taste


well I think these caves are now flooded anyway

27th Apr 2017 03:44 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

02369040016031089746693.jpg
The book Namibia: Minerals & Localities, by Ludi von Bezing & others, has a photo (p. 352, copied below) of a hill in the Hakos Mountains, 50 meters high, that is supposedly a single, corroded, quartz crystal. The book says "it is regarded as the biggest known quartz crystal".

27th Apr 2017 11:14 UTCReiner Mielke Expert

This subject has been talked about numerous times in the past see: https://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,9,14347,14349#msg-14349 https://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,9,14347,14570#msg-14570

If you search messages for "Giant Crystal" you will find many more threads dealing with specific minerals and or localities.

27th Apr 2017 12:42 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Kelly Nash Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The book Namibia: Minerals & Localities, by Ludi

> von Bezing & others, has a photo (p. 352, copied

> below) of a hill in the Hakos Mountains, 50 meters

> high, that is supposedly a single, corroded,

> quartz crystal. The book says "it is regarded as

> the biggest known quartz crystal".

>


Are you sure this isn't the quartz crystal Alfredo has mentioned, Kelly?? ;-)

27th Apr 2017 12:50 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Not at all, Paul. The one I mentioned only weighed 18 tons and was from Uganda. The Namibian one, if it's real (which I doubt), would weigh thousands of tons.

27th Apr 2017 14:44 UTCEd Clopton 🌟 Expert

I read once (who knows where) of a feldspar quarry in the Ural Mountains, Russia, that appeared to be excavating a single feldspar crystal based on uniformly parallel cleavage planes throughout the quarry.

27th Apr 2017 16:31 UTCDonald B Peck Expert

Wayne, that's the one.

27th Apr 2017 17:44 UTCSusan Robinson

One of the pegmatites in South Dakota had huge spodumene crystals in it.


Susan Robnson

27th Apr 2017 17:46 UTCSusan Robinson

I wonder if the huge, but sharp, tetrahedrite crystal on display in the mineral museum at the Sorbonne in Paris would qualify as the world's largest of that mineral species?


Susan Robinson

27th Apr 2017 17:57 UTCScott Rider

It really puts things into perspective when you read about giant crystals, especially if you are like me who rockhounds a lot.... My biggest crystal I found was a ugly, but intact single smoky quartz crystal 20 inches long, double terminated (albiet one termination is partial) and weighs an est 55 pounds (haven't weighed it) as it feels like its about the same weight as my german Pointer-vysla (sp?) mix. That is pretty tiny compared to some of the stuff from Namibia, Brazil, Uruguay, etc...

27th Apr 2017 19:03 UTCSteven Kuitems Expert

For willemite,

I once asked John Kolic what was the largest known willemite from the Sterling Mine, and he told me that on the 700' level he found a six foot by three foot long crystal exposed in a stope wall but it was too large to extract and remove from the mine. But as described it was the largest known

Crystal of willemite in the world.


Steven

27th Apr 2017 20:01 UTCScott Rider

I'm sure there has been a lot of undocumented finds as well, especially pre-mineral science... I'm sure some people found giant crystals and didn't even know what they were. In strip mining, there has probably been lots of destroyed giant crystals. Especially in the mines that have zero interest in mineral collecting....

28th Apr 2017 01:52 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Alfredo Petrov Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Not at all, Paul. The one I mentioned only weighed

> 18 tons and was from Uganda. The Namibian one, if

> it's real (which I doubt), would weigh thousands

> of tons.


Oh I know. I was trying to be funny, but apparently it was too early in the morning.

I guess I better not quit my day job, eh?? ;-)

28th Apr 2017 03:32 UTCDoug Schonewald

This Mindat location in Montana (https://www.mindat.org/loc-3879.html) is well known for over-sized rough quartz crystals some being up to 12' long. Here is a Mindat photo of a cross-section of one such crystal: https://www.mindat.org/photo-242239.html

28th Apr 2017 04:12 UTCcascaillou

As a side note; here's something that may sometimes look like a giant crystallisation but actually isn't:


http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=830421DSC00637.jpg


it's a slickenside (deceptively looking prismatic)

28th Apr 2017 04:55 UTCRalph S Bottrill 🌟 Manager

I have heard reports from a geologist decades ago of a giant garnet (grossularite/andradite) making up a whole hill in Queensland. Pretty rough in form but optically continuous it seemed. Keeping it quiet to protect it. As long as there is not an ore deposit underneath!
 
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