Quartz with Fluorite, Epidote, Arsenopyrite and Muscovite from Yaogangxian Mine

Dimension: 6cm x 5.5cm x 3.8cm
Weight: 52g
Locality: Yaogangxian Mine, Yaogangxian W-Sn ore field, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou, Hunan, China
 
This is an outstanding, elongated Quartz crystal in the rare Tessin habit of crystallization, with an identical, smaller twin crystal intergrown and secondary smaller crystals on matrix.  The main crystal is 4cm tall, perfect 360 degrees, and beautifully studded in the front with a clear cubic Fluorite crystal!  Tiny Epidote crystals finely grown on the back of the Quartz and on the champagne gold Muscovite like a green carpet, they accent the colorations and aesthetics of the specimen. 
 
An interesting, stubby, barrel-shapped crystal with a tranitional habit perfectly sits on the matrix, it is extremely rare to have Quartz with two types of crystal habit in one specimen!  Very sharp, short prismatic crystals of Arsenopyrite with wedge-shaped terminations and triangular face sparsely scattered in places, this superb specimen happens to be a perfect size for its own balance.  Very few Yaogangxian specimens really pack this much punch, it is truely mesmerizing!
 
What is Tessin Crystal Habit?
 
Named after the Swiss Kanton Ticino/Tessin, crystal whose hexagonal prism gets continuously thinner towards the termination by alternating steep rhombohedral and prism faces is said to have a Tessin habit.  Quartz with a Tessin habit is extremely rare and is usually formed at high temperatures (around 500°C) in fluids that are rich in carbon dioxide.