Minerals:  Quartz, Iron
Locality:  Tinejdad, Errachidia Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco
Dimensions: 130mm x 45mm x 38mm (approx)
Weight: 229.8g
Provenance: ex. Mala Haslem Collection

Tinejdad is one of the world’s premier localities for ferruginous quartz, producing some of the most distinctive iron rich quartz specimens known from Morocco. This substantial example is especially striking for its deep oxblood red colour, heavily textured surface and unusually complete crystal form.

The specimen is dominated by a single elongated quartz crystal with a sharply defined termination and strong parallel growth along several faces. Layers of iron coating have built across the surface unevenly, producing dense ridges, stepped textures and richly saturated red colour that shifts from dark brick through to almost burgundy in places. The contrast between the smoother crystal faces and more heavily deposited areas gives the specimen considerable surface variation from different angles.

The base features completely healed surface textures, giving the piece an almost double terminated appearance while maintaining a natural, finished profile. Smaller parallel crystals rise along one side of the main crystal, reinforcing the overall growth direction and adding further structure to the specimen.

This is older material from the locality, and among the ferruginous quartz we have handled from Tinejdad, single crystals with this degree of completeness are uncommon. We've encountered this form only a small number of times, which makes the combination of scale, healed base, strong termination and exceptional iron rich surface particularly notable.