Quartz - Cactus
The name derives from the mineral’s distinctive habit: the quartz crystals, except for the termination, are overgrown with myriads of tiny terminated crystals producing a spiky surface. Cactus quartz comes from a locality, which belongs to the farm Boekenhouthoek in the province Mpumalanga in South Africa and was first found in 1986. The colours range from milky white, light mauve and lavender to deep purple. Occasioally, iridescent bright yellow crystals are seen, which are caused by an iron oxide coating that do not penetrate into the crystals.
