History · Geology
About Donghai Crystal Mining District
The Donghai Crystal Mining District in Donghai County, Jiangsu Province is China’s most prolific quartz crystal source and is sometimes called the “World Crystal Capital.” For over a century, the metamorphic-hosted pegmatite-vein system has produced enormous transparent quartz prisms, smoky quartz, rutilated quartz, and minor associated beryl and mica. Donghai supplies the bulk of Chinese collector and lapidary quartz material, and the county hosts a major annual mineral and gem trade fair.
Geology & Signature Specimens
Donghai sits within the high-grade Su-Lu metamorphic terrane of eastern China, where ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism produced a regionally extensive system of quartz-rich gneisses and pegmatite veins. Crystal-bearing miarolitic cavities in pegmatites yield meter-scale single quartz prisms, while the Donghai-Lianyungang quartz fault system supplies vast volumes of clear and smoky quartz. Jiangsu is added to the encyclopedia’s Chinese province coverage by this entry.
