Allanite is a group name for wide range of rare-earth bearing species within the Epidote Supergroup most of which occur only in microcrystals, or embedded in rock. Specific identifications require detailed chemical analysis which are not always available. This magnificent matrixless individual doubly-terminated monoclinic Allanite Group crystal from Governador Valadares in Minas Gerais, Brazil is a floater, complete all round, and reaching a remarkable 5.8 cm in length. It is truly exceptional in every measure and you will struggle to find any member of the Allanite Group forming in crystals so large and perfect as this. Remarkably, Allanite Group minerals are not reported from Governador Valadares, even from Minas Gerais state, but there is much within Brazilian mineralogy that is not yet reported. It is from the superb systematic collection assembled by brothers Martin and Michael Günther (1951-2007 & 1956-2021).
