{"title":"Citrine","description":"\u003cp\u003eCitrine is the yellow-to-golden variety of macrocrystalline \u003cstrong\u003equartz\u003c\/strong\u003e, colored by trace aluminum-related centers rather than the iron oxides commonly blamed in older literature. True natural citrine is genuinely scarce — the vast majority of citrine sold worldwide is actually heat-treated \u003cstrong\u003eamethyst\u003c\/strong\u003e or \u003cstrong\u003esmoky quartz\u003c\/strong\u003e, which turns golden to deep orange between roughly 200–470°C but lacks the dichroism of the real mineral. Genuine, untreated citrine typically shows a softer, pale lemon-to-honey tone, while its heat-altered cousin tends toward the saturated orange-brown shade traders call Madeira citrine. Because natural material is rare, specimens with documented, unheated provenance command real premiums among serious mineral collectors, distinguishing this category sharply from mass-market treated jewelry stones.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMinas Gerais\u003c\/strong\u003e in Brazil is the historic heart of world citrine production, with classic finds from \u003cstrong\u003eSão João da Chapada\u003c\/strong\u003e near Diamantina and the \u003cstrong\u003ePederneira mine\u003c\/strong\u003e at São José da Safira; the state has produced exceptionally large, gemmy natural crystals, some reaching meter scale. The \u003cstrong\u003eRio Grande do Sul\u003c\/strong\u003e geode fields, including the \u003cstrong\u003eOco\u003c\/strong\u003e deposits near Fontoura Xavier, are another major Brazilian source, though most of their output is heat-altered amethyst rather than true citrine. The \u003cstrong\u003eDemocratic Republic of Congo\u003c\/strong\u003e's Lwena (Luena) district in Haut-Lomami produces the most distinctive natural citrine on the collector market: so-called \u003cstrong\u003eKundalini citrine\u003c\/strong\u003e, recognized by its unmistakable artichoke-like habit of a main prismatic point surrounded by cascading smaller terminated crystals, often with siderite or hematite inclusions confirming locality. Zambia has emerged as a further important natural source, alongside Madagascar's alluvial and volcanic-hosted deposits, the Ural Mountains and Perm Krai region of Russia, and historic Spanish workings at the \u003cstrong\u003eAmistad mine\u003c\/strong\u003e in Villasbuenas, Salamanca. Smaller American occurrences include the \u003cstrong\u003eEsmeralda\u003c\/strong\u003e and Carmelita mines of Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California, and Petersen Mountain in Washoe County, Nevada.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCitrine forms in the same pegmatitic and hydrothermal environments as smoky quartz and rock crystal, frequently intergrowing with them as smoky citrine, and can develop a macromosaic internal structure that allows unusually large single crystals compared to amethyst. Its warm, sunlit color, trigonal prismatic crystal habit, and hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale make it durable and visually striking in cabinet specimens, geode sections, and clusters alike. For collectors, the appeal lies precisely in separating authentic, dichroic natural citrine — with its softer coloring and confirmed locality data from sources like Congo, Minas Gerais, or Zambia — from the abundant heat-treated amethyst flooding the general gem trade, making well-documented natural pieces a genuinely valuable and increasingly sought niche within quartz mineralogy.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/www.italmineral.com\/collections\/citrine.oembed","provider":"ITALMINERAL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}