Mineral: | Tantalite -(Mn) , Solid-Solution Series: Tantalite-(Fe) - Tantalite-(Mn) | Chemical Formula: | FeTa2O6 - MnTa2O6 | Size: | | Weight: | | Transparence: | transparent - translucent | Quantity: | | Origin: | Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan | This is a fairly big manganese- tantalite crystal still hosting a small amount of muscovite matrix. The piece is irregular crystallized but shows no fracture planes, only under the microscope very few tiny fracture planes at some edges are visible. In transmitted light the specimen shows a beautiful deep red translucency. A rare transparent tantalite from Afghanistan.

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