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Home > Kalahari Manganese Field – March 18 > MS0894 Diaspore

Diaspore - Sold

• Postmasburg
• Northern Cape Province
• South Africa

• 1.9 by 1.6 by 0.8 cm –

Diaspore is an oxide-hydroxide of aluminum, named following the Greek 'to scatter', in allusion to its disintengration under heat (Haüy, 1801). Nominally the mineral is colorless, but an impurity of manganese may impart a pink to red color, such as in this example. This is a tight group of platy crystals showing faces on one side of the aggregate, and some crystal edges. There is micro-chipping along the crystal edges. Nevertheless an impressive crystal group, and a nice thumbnail.