Rutilated Quartz

Provided and copyright by: David Lynch, Thule Scientific
Summary author: David Lynch

Rutilated quartz is clear or smoky quartz that’s run through with fine crystals of rutile - titanium dioxide. The colors of the rutile whiskers may be silver, straw or honey-colored, gold, red or brown. They grow in long slender bundles that radiate from a nugget of rutile, usually located near the surface or base of the quartz crystal. A crystal of rutilated quartz may contain only a few small whiskers of rutile or it may be so densely filled as to be more rutile than quartz. The latter uncommon blend of quartz and rutile is found as natural crystals in Australia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Norway, Pakistan and the United States. Some of the best specimens come from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, a pegmatite locale famous for giant quartz crystals and amethyst geodes. The picture above is about 6 cm wide.