Andradite Garnet, Magnetite and Hedenbergite from Inner Mongolia

Dimension: 4.9cm x 3.8cm x 2.9cm
Weight: 57g
Locality: Huanggang Mine, Keshiketeng Co, Chifeng Prefecture, Inner Mongolia, China
 
A fine specimen of lustrous Andradite Gardnet crystals from Huanggang Mine, Inner Mongolia.  Andradite Garnet was first discovered in Huanggang in around 2010 and usually forms in layers.  The Dodecahedral Andradite Garnets of this specimen have a tan-yellow brown coloration growing out of an inter-growth bed of Hedenbergite and Magnetite, in a metallic-blue iridescent color.  A rare and unique combination from the famous Huanggang Mine!
 
Named in 1868 by a famous Brazilian Mineralogist James Dwight Dana in honor of José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva who first described and named what Dana (1868) defined as a sub-variety of Andradite.  The color of Andradite Garnet is in a range that extends from a dark golden green (like the topazolite from Stanley Butte, Arizona), through reddish brown to jet black.