Description
This is a large, blue dravite/uvite crystal in a green mica-rich matrix with numerous smaller blue dravite/uvite crystals and small gemmy-blue sapphires. The crystal displays a perfect ditriagonal pyramidal crystal habit. These specimens first surfaced in the gem markets of Peshawar, Pakistan, in late 2009.
Blue and green fibrous tourmalines were uncovered in the late 2000s as a by-product of sapphire mining operations in the Kokcha Valley. Sapphire mining takes place near the village of Hazrat Saeed, 25 km north of Sar-e-Sang along the Koksha River. Analysis of the tourmaline crystals showed them to be a mixture of dravite and uvite (Blue Dravite-Uvite Tourmaline from Koksha Valley, Afghanistan, Ian Nicastro and Ziyin SunIan, Gems & Gemology, Winter 2016, Vol. 52, No. 4)
Koksha Valley, Hazrat Said, Yamgan District, Badakhshan, Afghanistan
Size: 85 x 70 x 40 mm, 312 grams.