PLEASING PYROPE

Italy’s Uniquely Valuable Variety of Garne

- MATTEO OBERTO

Brossasco-Isasca pink-violet pyrope, part of the garnet family, has an international scientific value due to its high-depth origin and the particular mineral assemblage included inside the crystals.

The outcrops where this variety of garnet was discovered during the 1980s are in Martiniana Po (Cuneo Province, Northwestern Italy). Throughout the following years, the region has been classified as a “mineralogical geosite.” Martiniana Po exists between Parigi and Case Ramello and is the site of the Pyrope Visitor Center and Museum, which aims to promote and preserve geologic treasure.

The appreciation for Martiniana Po and the pyrope started with a discovery by scientist C. Chopin (1984), who enhanced the coesite (SiO 2) occurrence within the pyrope crystals for the first time. Other researchers focused their studies on the numerous minerals included in these pyropes in the years that followed. The research also led to discovering three new mineralogical species, bearthite, ellenbergerite, and magnesiodumortierite. Soon, Martiniana Po became one of the most essential mineralogical locations in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. In consideration of the extraordinary scientific interest, local administrators restricted access to the prominent outcrops. The garnets found in this area can fracture easily, but high-quality gems can be produced from just a few little fragments.

GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION