Afghanite disguised
Contributed by: FMS Admin
Date: Nov 14th, 2025
Locality: Kokcha Valley, Badakhshan, Afghanistan (See on Mindat)
Description:
A typical blue mineral from the Koksha valley, Badakhshan, Afghanistan with a typical orange fluorescence. Usually this is hauyne. But in this case, the emission spectrum, the EDX analysis and Raman tells us that it is afghanite. The crystal however looks like a distorted dodecahedron. Many other examples exist of these disguised afghanites. The crystal structure of afghanite allows for distorted dodecahedron like crystals.
Originally posted by groensteenfreterke on Nature’s Rainbow.
Summary of luminescence responses:
Afghanite (Mindat) (RRUFF)
- Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Orange