S206 - Top Rare Unusual Gohetite Geode with Astonishing Prismatic Columnar Pyrolusite Crystals

An impressive specimen. Truly unusual. This is a fragment of a gohetite geode from the famous manganese-iron oxide mines ("Vein 12") of Taouz, in the Drâa-Tafilalet Region of South Morocco. In these mineralized deposits, iron oxide associations in the form of hematite, gohetite, vanadinite, and many manganese oxides are very common.
This specimen comes from the area known as "Vein 12," and very few specimens have developed such beautiful prismatic columnar pyrolusite crystals on top of the gohetite.

Weight: 90g

Size: 5cm x 4,7cm x 3,9cm

There aren’t too many areas that produce collector-quality pyrolusite, but few ones that do are astonishing. The mines from the Drâa-Tafilalet Region of South Morocco are responsible for the classic radiating pyrolusite flowers. Other mines around the world produce similar specimens, though not with the same red matrix as Moroccan specimens.

The primary formation method of pyrolusite is in oxidation zones of hydrothermal vents where manganese is present or manganite has previously formed. 

Pyrolusite is most commonly found alongside other manganese oxides like manganite, which it can be a pseudomorph of. Pyrolusite is also found along with iron oxides like hematite and goethite, like in this case. This is most likely due to similar formation habits, and because manganese and iron are relatively similar transition metals.