Minerals:  Faden Quartz, Hematite
Locality: Iouriren Mine, Afella Ighir Caïdat, Tafraout Cercle, Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa Region, Morocco
Dimensions: 70mm x 44mm x 26mm
Weight: 99.1g

This is an exceptional old stock Faden Quartz from the Iouriren Mine in Morocco, dating to the well known production of around 2004. Moroccan Faden Quartz is difficult to come by, particularly when compared with the far more familiar material from the Alpine type deposits of Europe or Pakistan. Occasional examples do appear from places such as Brazil and Colombia, but substantial Moroccan pieces with strong filament development are truly scarce in the collector market.

At 70mm, this is a large specimen for Faden Quartz, and the internal structure is fantastic. Multiple white filaments run through the quartz, including several that intersect and cross one another, creating an unusually complex internal pattern. It becomes more fascinating the longer you examine it, because the Faden structure is not confined to a single obvious thread.

The hematite adds another level entirely. Dark metallic & speckled red inclusions sit through sections of the quartz, an association we see far less often in Faden specimens from the better known localities. Combined with the size, history and multiple crossing filaments, it makes this a serious piece for anyone who specifically collects Faden Quartz.

And on a personal note, if I didn’t already have a Moroccan Faden Quartz in my own collection, from the Paolo Martinotti collection, I would absolutely have kept this one. For a Faden collector, this is unicorn material.