Solution Quartz Crystals

"Solution Quartz" from the quarry near North Little Rock, Arkansas is supposed to be the best of its type. These are some of the most sought after quartz crystals in the world because of the delicate points and extremely intricate arrangements. These classic clusters are known as “investment pieces” because they are so rare, and so hard to acquire, and have become more valuable with each passing year.

The quarry located at Jeffrey near North Little Rock was the site of the discovery of solution quartz. It has three large, open cuts which are now flooded. The quarry was started in the 1950's and remained in operation through the 1960's. It was reopened for a short time in the 1970's for commercial mineral specimen collecting. The site is currently closed and inaccessible.

Solution growth of quartz crystals here have produced prize specimens with a unique brightness and surface sparkle. These crystals form in jackstraw groups which are not attached to a matrix. These floater formation delicate groups were formed in solution rather than deposited onto host rock.

Finding Jeffrey floater clusters (or “burrs” as they were nicknamed) and beautiful double terminated crystals got many collectors excited when this site was open. Solution Crystals formed in and were recovered from zones of vugs that were filled with Vaseline like Rectorite. These vugs were found in fractured quartz veins over the 15 year period that the site was accessible. Thousands of small clusters were available. The best quality clusters from this site were open, highly lustrous groups of transparent colorless crystals. Slightly milky crystals were more typical, making the less common gemmy transparent burrs the most highly valued.