Minerals:  Faden Quartz, Hematite
Locality: Iouriren Mine, Afella Ighir Caïdat, Tafraout Cercle, Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa Region, Morocco
Dimensions: 70mm x 45mm x 32mm
Weight: 63.9g

This is a beautifully complex old stock Faden Quartz from the Iouriren Mine, dating to the important Moroccan production of around 2004. Iouriren is a gold mine in the western Anti Atlas, and collector specimens from the mine are relatively limited. Faden Quartz from this find is particularly distinctive, with documented examples showing stretched, curved and intergrown growth rather than the straightforward white filament more familiar from Alpine or Pakistani material. Faden Quartz from Iouriren has been specifically documented from a 2004 production, being described as having undergone stretching during growth. 

The Faden structure on this piece takes a little more reading. There's no single obvious filament running neatly through the centre, and instead, the quartz has grown as a complex network of interlocking and slightly distorted crystals. The growth history becomes much easier to recognise once viewed alongside other specimens from the same find. Mindat also documents large Iouriren Faden specimens made from several individual Faden Quartz crystals of different orientations that grew together into larger forms.

The iron presence is gorgeous. Both deep black and vivid red hematite occur through the quartz, introducing intense areas of colour through an already intricate crystal structure. With multiple generations of growth, internal structure and iron colour appearing throughout the specimen, there is much to enjoy.

This is exactly the kind of historical locality piece that becomes difficult to replace. The 2004 Iouriren material has a character entirely its own, and this is a particularly substantial and complicated example from that production.