Description

A beautiful greenish crystal of behierite, a borate of tantalum and niobium, associated with pink crystals of tourmaline (elbaite) in a probably quartz gangue.
This high-quality piece for the species comes from its type locality: the Manjaka pegmatite deposit, in the Sahatani valley in the heart of Madagascar.
This mineral is a specimen d’auteur, meaning that it belonged to the French mineralogist Jean Béhier, who himself discovered and described this mineral species.
This piece is part of the same batch as the behierite type specimens.
Here’s a video of this mineral with an exceptional pedigree:

This post is also available in: French