DV09 Tourmaline var. Elbaite

Malkhan pegmatite field, Krasnyi Chikoy, Chitinskaya Oblast', Transbaikalia, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia

3.1x 1.5x 1.5 cm

$290

A well terminated polychrome tourmaline from the Malchan pegmatite field in Eastern Siberia. There is no damage; all the edges are sharp and the faces intact.  The color grades from a maroon red at the base, to a yellowish orange near the top.

The Malchan deposit is actually a fairly recent discovery, having been discovered southeast of Lake Baikal (near the Mongolian border) in 1980.  The locality has been producing in small amounts since, though on a scale far smaller than either the Brazilian or Afghan tourmaline deposits.  I will also add that the "warmer" colored tourmalines (reds, yellows, oranges) are known from fewer deposits than the greens and blues (which account for the bulk of the Afghan/Brazilian production.) To my knowlege the main producers of these colors are currently Malchan (where this one is from), and the various pegmatites in Madagascar and Nigeria.