New Minerals 1
Updated March 18th, 2008
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C-125 Calcite with Duftite, Mottramite & Malachite $170
Tsumeb, Otjikoto Region, Namibia
9 x 7.5 x 5.5 cm.
A very sculptural specimen featuring tan, color-zoned Calcite crystals to 2.5 cm. dusted with light green patches of the lead-copper mineral Duftite and a crest of blackish Mottramite on the front face. The rear of the specimen features spheres of Malachite to 8 mm. In addition to their colorful appearance under natural light, the Calcite crystals exhibit areas of red fluorescence under SWUV and the largest Calcite crystal shows a yellowish-green fluorescence on its top crystal face. A fine-looking specimen from a classic locality that would dress up anyone's mineral collection.
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C-126 Cuprian Smithsonite $85 SOLD
Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Otjikoto Region, Namibia
8.8 x 6 x 2.6 cm.
A richly-coated specimen of glistening, sugary crystals of the Copper-rich variety of Smithsonite. The Smithsonite coats a dense blade of host rock and presents well, standing up on its own.
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S-082 Sphalerite var. Marmatite with Ankerite $55
Eagle Mine, Gilman District, Eagle County, Colorado
8.5 x 8.2 x 2 cm.
An extremely lustrous, sparkling and colorful specimen of the jet-black, Iron-rich variety of Sphalerite called Marmatite, accented by tan crystals of Ankerite up to 7 mm. in size. Also present on the upper left side of the specimen are many lustrous micro crystals of Pyrite and on the lower left portion are several crude crystals of Galena. The best feature of this specimen in my opinion is the fact that it appears to be floater, having no discernable points of contact.
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C-127 Calcite with Hematite $60
Florence Mine, Egremont, Cumberland, Cumbria, England
13 x 10.3 x 3 cm.
A lustrous plate of Hematite-stained Calcite crystals from a classic English mineral locality. One of the features of this specimen is that there is just enough Hematite coating the Calcite crystals to lend them a colorful iridescence. Amazingly, even with the Hematite staining, this Calcite specimen shows a bright vermillion-colored fluorescence under SWUV light.
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S-083 Silver $50 SOLD
Cobalt, Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada
6 x 4.2 cm.
A leaf-like example of natural Silver from the famous Cobalt Silver mining district located very near the Ontario-Quebec border in Canada. This Silver specimen most likely formed as a sheet in a thin crack of the host rock. These old-time leaf Silver specimens are not easy to find these days.
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R-020 Rosasite and Calcite $160
Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Durango, Mexico
16 x 10 x 4.9 cm.
A colorful and large example of the Copper mineral Rosasite on Limonite matrix with accenting crystals of Calcite. The acicular rosettes of Rosasite on this specimen have a velvety sheen and a vividly rich color, and are nicely separated and evenly distributed over the entire specimen. Large, undamaged display-worthy specimens of this type are a lot harder to come by when compared to the banged-up fist-sized samples of which there seem to be so many.
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G-063 Galena & Quartz with Sphalerite & Dolomite $165
Cavnic Mine, Cavnic, Maramures County, Romania
13.1 x 9.5 x 6 cm.
Large, lustrous octahedral Galena crystals to 3 cm. wrapped around numerous crystals of Quartz encrusted with Dolomite and accented here and there by Sphalerite crystals up to 8 mm. in size. This specimen displays well from many different angles. Although one of the Quartz crystals has a minor ding on its termination, I think that the fact that the Quartz crystals fluoresce yellow by far makes up for this minor imperfection. After all, when was the last time you saw a Quartz crystal that fluoresced? Good specimens from Cavnic are getting harder and harder to find these days as production has all but ceased.
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S-084 Sphalerite with Calcite, Dolomite & Boulangerite $55 SOLD
Stari Trg Mine, Trepca Complex, Kosovo
8 x 6.5 x 2.8 cm.
An extremely lustrous mound of large Sphalerite crystals up to three centimeters in size, accented by a sprinkling of Calcite and Dolomite crystals. As a bonus, on the lower right-hand portion of the specimen are scores of minute, acicular crystals of the Lead-Antimony-Sulfide mineral Boulangerite. The Stari Trg Mine is the main mine of the classic and famous Trepca mining complex. Once a prolific producer of mineral specimens, very little material is available these days.
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C-128 Celestine $195 SOLD
(ex Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences)
(ex Joseph Jeanes collection)
Mokatam, Wadi-el-Tih, Egypt
10.4 x 4.7 x 3.9 cm.
A trio of transparent, blue-gray crystals of the mineral Celestine, lightly coated by an unknown tan-colored mineral, from a nation that is not known for having produced much in the way of mineral specimens. These well-formed crystals are double-terminated, albeit crudely on the bottom of the specimen. This specimen comes with a label that is hand-written by Joseph Jeanes and a hand-written label from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
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V-015 Vanadinite on Hollandite $360
Taouz, Meknès-Tafilalet Region, Morocco
10 x 9.6 x 6.8 cm.
A very aesthetic specimen of two-toned Vanadinite crystals in a vug of the Manganese Oxide mineral, Hollandite. These Vanadinite-Hollandite combos came from the limited finds of the early 1980's. Specimens from this find are seldom encountered and much sought-after by collectors, especially the larger ones such as this one. A cool feature of this specimen are the prominent growth hillocks that are visible on the faces of the larger Vanadinite crystals.
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C-129 Calcite with Hematite inclusions $45 SOLD
Bou Azzer, Tazenakht, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco
11 x 10 x 3.3 cm.
A two-toned mound of Calcite crystals included by reddish Hematite phantoms, which are topped by a plethora of smaller, silver-gray Hematite-included crystals of a secondary Calcite growth phase.