Size 12cm x 9cm
 
A larger speciman of quartz from the second bench in this little opencut. These were the first quartz crystals found in this pit and occured in a zone of red earthy iron ore. The crystals are up to about 6-8mm in length, and have a rough surface, due to a coating of reddish brown hematite, which won't wash off. At the time we thought that we would find some excellent quartz's on the bench below when it was mined, but these are the best they got. By the time the next bench was mined these had nearly completely disappeared. Unusual locality and a one off find. Back has been cut to rid excess waste and display better. This pit was closed and backfilled with waste years ago.