The
mining area known as
Brandberg
(Fire/Burnt
Mountain) is actually situated in the Goboboseb area, just west of
Brandberg Mountain, some 80 km from Uis, the closest town.
The
area is hot and dry and
rather
inaccessible, making mining conditions very tough. Crystal specimens
are becoming increasingly hard to find; miners chisel away at the hard
basalt rock, sometimes for
weeks, before finding
a pocket, which may yield only a few crystals.
The
basalt cavities of the
Brandberg area
are
well known for their quartz and prehnite specimens, producing arguably
the best quality specimens in the world.