BEAUTIFUL RARE SPECIMEN OF PURPLE SUGILITE (ALSO KNOWN AS WESSELITE FROM HOTAZEL) OR VERY RARE PURPURITE (ANOTHER KIND OF PURPLE ROCK FROM NAMIBIA) IN GREEN GREY MANGANESE SLATE ORE FROM THE FAMOUS WESSELS MINE NEAR HOTAZEL IN THE KALAHARI MANGANESE FIELD

Sugilite is a rare lithium silicate. Sugilite's most recognizable feature is its color, which is a rich, saturated, deep dark purple. It can also range in color from pink to lilac to lavender, and from plum to magenta, and reddish- or bluish-purple. The distinctive purple color is due to the presence of about 1-3% manganese (in the form of manganoan oxide) in its chemical structure.
In South Africa, Sugilite formed deep in the earth in beds of manganese-rich metamorphic rocks that are the remains of magma. They are mined in the Kalahari manganese deposits at the Wessels and other mines in Northern Cape Province of South Africa. These layers of manganese ore, which were derived from either weathering or from hydrothermal solutions associated with invading magmas, were deposited in a sedimentary basin between 2.6 and 2 billion years ago. The manganese ore is found in a gray black manganese bearing shale (muddy clay sediments buried and compacted for a long time). Depending upon the degree of metamorphism to which it has been subjected shale can become slate and can occur in shades of green and brown determined by the amount and type of iron and organic material that are present in the rock.
Sugilite is also known as Wesselite, after the purple color material was discovered in the Wessels Manganese Mine in South Africa. In 1975, a core-drill sample from a manganese mine near Hotazel, South Africa revealed a thin seam of sugilite by accident. This material had enough manganese content to give it a deep purple color. Small but significant, the deposit became the first source of gem-quality sugilite and launched the gems now famous association with purple. Sugilite was officially classified as a rare gem in 1980.
By the mid-1990s, known reserves at the Wessels Mine were exhausted, and no additional material has been found since. In recent years, high demand for sugilite in China exhausted stock from most mineral dealers, and prices escalated rapidly. By 2015 it had become nearly impossible to find any sugilite specimens at other than ridiculously high prices. Thumbnail specimens I have seen selling for $500-1500 out on the marketplace. If this sample rock turns out to be true Sugilite it is indeed a rare and valuable piece.
Size: Large Item 7cm High 12cm Wide and 7cm Deep
Condition: Good condition.
HOW TO CONFIRM IT IS SUGILITE? I CANNOT CONFIRM 100 PERCENT. THESE ROCK SAMPLES HOWEVER WERE BOUGHT FROM A PERSON FAMILY WHO WORKED FOR MINES AND DRILLED CORE SAMPLES ALL OVER AFRICA. ALSO THE COLOR AND TEXTURE LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE SUGILITE ROCK SPECIMENS I HAVE SEEN ONLINE. PLEASE SEE PHOTOS AND TRY TO VERIFY FOR YOURSELF. I HAVE MISIDENTIFIED ANOTHER SIMILAR ROCK BEFORE AS LEPIDOLITE SO IT IS POSSIBLE I CAN BE WRONG AGAIN. ALSO THERE IS ANOTHER EVEN RARER ROCK PURPURITE THAT CAN LOOK VERY SIMILAR TO SUGILITE AND IS MINED IN NAMIBIA.
ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED