Madagascar Minerals

My very first day at the Munich show I was surprised to find some rather interesting specimens from Madagascar at Dr. and Adrianna Pagano's booth - specimens of behierite!!! You can't believe how rare this mineral is!  Behierite is comprised of (Ta,Nb)BO₄ . To date it has only been found on Madagascar.   This mineral also fluoresces bluish violet under SW UV light. The Pagano's also had a few specimens of tourmaline var. Liddicoatite.  Liddicoatite is the calcium/lithium rich variety and differs from elbaite by the replacement of sodium with calicium.  Sodium is found in elbaite.  The behierite specimens were one of the real superb rarities for me that I found at this show.

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MD-01 - $150.00
Behierite with Tourmaline and Apatite
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
5 x 3.5 x 1.8 cm
 

Two crystals of behierite to 4 mm across are found on this specimen comprised mostly of tourmaline and a little blue colored apatite.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-02 - $150.00
Behierite with Tourmaline
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
5 x 3.5 x 1.8 cm
 

Two crystals of behierite to 3 mm across are found on this specimen comprised mostly of quartz and feldpsar.  The colored splotches are tourmaline.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-03 - $275.00
Behierite with Triphane and Tourmaline
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
4.5 x 3.1 x 2.5 cm
 
 

Exceptionally large 0.9 cm mass of crystallized behierite.  Also present are severely etched remnants of spodumene var. triphane and deep magenta colored tourmaline.  The Triphane is fluorescent yellowish orange under SW UV light.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-04 - $65.00
Behierite with Triphane and Tourmaline
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
3 x 2 x 1.7 cm
 
 

2 mm crystal of behierite is found with severely etched remnants of spodumene var. triphane and deep magenta colored tourmaline.  The Triphane is fluorescent yellowish orange under SW UV light.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-05 - $45.00
Behierite with Tourmaline & Apatite
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
3.7 x 3.3 x 1.7 cm
 
 

5 mm partial crystal of behierite is found with deep magenta colored tourmaline and a few scattered grains of blue apatite.  This is a no frills specimen of this rare mineral as the crystal is not much more than just a partial remnant.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-06 - $175.00
Behierite with Tourmaline
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
4 x 3.5 x 2 cm
 
 

very fine 4 mm crystal of behierite is exposed in a vug.  It is associated with deep magenta colored tourmaline.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-07 - $225.00
Behierite
Manjaka
Sahatany Valley
Madagascar
1.6 x 1.1 x 0.9 cm
 
 

Two crystals of behierite to 4 mm across are found on this small specimen - proving that good things come in small packages! The other crystal is just to the left of the larger one and is 3 mm across.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-08 - $50.00
Tourmaline  var. Liddicoatite
Antandrokomby
Manandona Valley
Madagascar
1.2 x 1 x 0.8 cm
 
 

Two intergrown crystals comprise this specimen.  The larger crystal is doubly terminated..

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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MD-09- $40.00
Tourmaline  var. Liddicoatite
Antandrokomby
Manandona Valley
Madagascar
2.4 x 2.2 x 1.4 cm
 
 

Scattered terminated crystals of liddicoatite are found all over this specimen. The largest crystal is the 0.7 cm crystal pictured in the lower right corner photograph.

To order this specimen send email to:
John@TrinityMinerals.com

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