Anhydrite quartz
Cava Lombardi, Lucendro-Pass, Gotthard region, Ticino, Switzerland
 
Drusy smoke-coloured milky Quartz vein portion with rectangular hollow forms of dissolved Anhydrite stems up to 2.5 cm long, overgrown by a clear skeleton-like Quartz generation, which contains needle-like Anhydrite hollow forms up to 7 mm long. This "Anhydrite quartz" appears literally chopped and cut up by the countless inclusions of calcium sulphate that have been leached away! A very interesting and unusual piece from the Southern quartz/hematite vein in the upper portion of Cava Lombardi, the oldest and most famous Iron Rose site in the Alps (cf. LAPIS 2/2020, pp. 30-35). Recovered in August 2020, ex Stefan Weiß collection