This specimen of DISCO BALL APOPHYLLITE comes from the March, 2013 find at the bottom of Well #3 at Momin Akhada, near Rahuri, in the Ahmadnagar District, Maharashtra, India. The material from this find is every bit as good as that from the earlier find in 2001, and prices are a lot more attractive. I picked up this beauty from one of the Indian dealers at the Tucson Gem, Rock & Mineral Show. He had purchased a quantity of the new material, and his display case was filled with a wide selection of specimens.

The new apophyllite occurs in rounded mounds of green apophyllite crystals on a white stilbite matrix. The name "disco ball" resulted form the mounds' similarity to the mirrored balls that were common in discos in the 70s and 80s. The crystal habit is prismatic crystals with dominant pinacoid terminations, with very small pyramid faces. The apophyllite ranges in color from green, to pale green, to colorless. The color is usually most intense at the base of the crystals, and becomes paler or even colorless near the terminations. Crystal faces are typically highly lustrous and glossy. The stilbite varies from creamy white to bright white.

The first pocket in Well #3 were first opened in March, 2013, at a depth of 30 feet. It was about 25 feet long, 4 feet high, and 8 feet wide, and was lined with green disco ball apophyllite. It required 3 months to extract about 1,000 specimens, of which 400 were of high quality. One of the side shows surrounding this material is that there is a fierce rivalry between two well-known Indian mineral dealers for this material, and both want to control the market. Tensions ran so high that, at the 2013 Denver Show, it is reported that death threats were made! For a full account of the history of the disco ball apophyllites, google "Spirifer Issue #7" to read the article by Tomasz Praskier and Muhammed Fasi Maaki.