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Quartz crystal points with a layer of milky quartz coating a very clear crystal point inside. A rare crystal variety
usually found in Colorado, these come from a mine in Mt. Ida Arkansas. For Sale!
The following crystals are very interesting. I didn't know what they were, the mine owner wasn't sure, he called them simply "ivory crystals" and didn't really know anything about the mineralogy of them. I spent a long time searching the internet, asking people and etc... and just a day or two before posting these crystals to the website, while checking one of my books (about something quite off subject, of course) I FOUND the crystal. right there.
I have a book called Rockhounding Arkansas by Darcy and Mike Howard (complete reference below) and there they are! They are apparently a type of reverse phantom... a "creamy white layer of milky quartz" that formed on the OUTSIDE of clear quartz. Mike Howard, a geologist, states in this book that Art Smith*, another geologist friend of his that these were usually only found in Colorado, but they have since been found in at least two places in Arkansas. Art called them "Snow Crystals" but Mike preferred "Overcoat Quartz".
I figure whatever you call them, they are beautiful. I am assuming they are relatively rare
since they are only found in the two places in Arkansas. Of course, this is only an
assumption on my part based on the information I have available to me.
The characteristics I have found almost all of them to have is that the insides are very very water clear (you can look up through most of the bases, or if there is any mine damage or imprints, you can see through the milky coating to reveal the insides. The other thing is that they all have lots of rainbows. Both on the insides as well as on the outer layers of the faces, an iridescent sheen.
*reference books
Collecting Crystals, The Guide to Quartz in Arkansas, Rockhounding Arkansas
by Darcy and Mike Howard (2000)
Sheridan books, Inc.
Collecting Arkansas Minerals - A Reference and Guide
by Art Smith (1996)
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