Sichuan Province

Sichuan — high-altitude quartz and the Xuebaoding system

Sichuan Province spans two collector stories: the water-clear, doubly-terminated "Herkimer-style" quartz of Daocheng County on the Tibetan Plateau margin, and the Xuebaoding Sn-W system whose scheelite and muscovite reach the market under both the mountain's name and the province label.

What Sichuan is known for

• Daocheng doubly-terminated quartz — gem-clear, often floater crystals
• Elestial and skeletal quartz habits
• Scheelite on muscovite from the Xuebaoding workings
• Mica book pairs and combination pieces

Typical specimen style

Daocheng quartz is prized for clarity and clean double terminations that rival the American Herkimer material; most pieces are single crystals or small clusters with little or no matrix. Xuebaoding-system pieces carry the silvery muscovite signature.

Collector value

Clarity, termination quality, and freedom from bruising drive Daocheng quartz value. For Xuebaoding material see the dedicated Xuebaoding page.

From our inventory

Browse Sichuan specimens or the quartz guide.

The Xuebaoding association

At over 4,000 metres in Pingwu County, Xuebaoding is famous for a distinctive trio that often occurs together on one matrix: pink to colourless scheelite, blue-green beryl (aquamarine) and lustrous cassiterite — one of the world's most recognisable specimen associations.