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Gallery 2 Smaller Mineral Specimens
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A-121 Acanthite $75 San Juan de Rayas Mine, Municipio Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico 2.5 x 1.8 x 2.3 cm An uncommonly large crystal of the silver sulfide mineral, Acanthite. This specimen has a hoppered, in-drawn termination. Guanajuato has been called “the treasure house of Mexico” and at one time produced three-fifths of the world's silver. Mining in this district dates back to the Aztecs in the 13th century.
P-096 Pyrite $50 American Aggregates Corp. Quarry, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN 3.6 x 3.5 x 3.1 cm A complete-all-around, slightly oblate sphere of Pyrite crystals from a small find in the early 1990's. This spherical aggregate is composed of octahedral and modified cubic crystals of Pyrite. These pyrite nodules occurred in the lower New Albany Shale, just above the contact with the underlying North Vernon Limestone, Devonian age. According to Huizing and Russell (1986, p. 148), the cause of nucleation of these specimens is uncertain.
R-041 Rhodochrosite & Pyrite $65 Emma Mine, Butte, Butte District, Silver Bow County, MT 3.5 x 3.5 x 2.3 cm This specimen features pink crystals of Rhodochrosite measuring up to 1.6 cm in size and accented by tiny crystals of Pyrite. Butte Rhodochrosites are true US classics, mostly coming out over 50 years ago.
S-164 Stilbite $35 Mount Etna, Pine Grove Hills, Wilson Mining District, Lyon County, NV 3.7 x 2.4 x 2.4 cm A vibrantly-colored bundle of Stilbite crystals from the middle-of-nowhere, Nevada. I've lived in northern Nevada for 17 years and this is the first and only example of this material that I have encountered. A great addition to anyone's suite of zeolite minerals.
T-330 Turquoise & Perhamite $40 Silver Coin Mine, Valmy, Iron Point Mining District, Humboldt County, NV 4.7 x 3.5 x 3.7 cm This specimen features a pair of phosphate minerals. Sprays of green-blue-colored Turquoise accompanied by balls of Perhamite. Perhamite is an uncommon phosphate mineral, while crystallized Turquoise is not that common either. The Silver Coin Mine is regarded as a world-class location for crystallized Turquoise.
S-161 Stilbite-Ca $30 Lower New Street Quarry, Paterson, Passaic County, NJ 3.7 x 3.1 x 2.4 cm A complete, hemispherical aggregate of yellow-orange Stilbite perched on matrix. This specimen is good example of Stilbite from the US and particularly from this locale.
G-146 Grossular Garnet with Vesuvianite SOLD Sierra de Cruces, Municipio de Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico 5 x 3 x 3.5 cm The Grossular crystals from this location have been attributed as to coming from Lake Jaco for many years. This information is not correct as it was a deliberate attempt to conceal the actual locality from would be diggers. This piece is a good example of this material featuring sharp, well-formed dodecahedral crystals of pink and cream-colored Grossular measuring up to 2.3 cm across. Also present on this specimen are several small crystals of Vesuvianite. There are several small areas of contact where it grew against matrix or another crystal.
P-073 Pyromorphite $40 Les Farges Mine, Ussel, Corrèze, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France 2.5 x 1.6 x 1.4 cm. Les Farges is one of the premier localities in the world for Pyromorphite. This specimen is a good example of why this location has a reputation for producing world-class Pyromorphite specimens. A highly lustrous stack of strongly hoppered, fat, prisms make for a sculptural and aesthetic specimen. You don't see many of these around these days and the mine has been closed since 1981. A small but fierce specimen of Pyromorphite from a classic French locality.
C-294 Corundum variety Sapphire $30 Beitbridge District, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe 4.6 x 3.7 x 3 cm A blue-gray crystal of Sapphire with a little bit of Biotite. This crystal has some lustre and is complete except for a small area of contact. I am told that the mine collapsed some time ago and there are no plans to re-open it. If, like me, you are a fan of Corundum; check out this website: The Corunduminium
C-291 Cavansite (TL) & Heulandite $50 Owyhee Dam, Lake Owyhee State Park, Malheur County, OR 3.2 x 2.5 x 2.9 cm This specimen features bright-blue-colored, radial sprays of Cavansite with sparkly Heulandite crystals richly covering the basalt matrix of this specimen from the Type Locality. First described in 1967, the Owyhee Dam specimens were what you got if you wanted a Cavansite for your collection. The Indian discoveries of the late 1980's changed that. This piece has historical and scientific importance. None of these have been found in many years, to my knowledge.
G-153 Almandine Garnet $40 Buviknakken, Buvika, Sørfold, Nordland, Norway 3.6 x 2.7 x 2.3 cm A complete crystal of Almandine from a noteworthy Norse location. This Garnet has a good lustre and a pleasing deep wine-red hue. At 3.6 centimeters this crystal is a little large than usual for this location. This locality was discovered in the early 1970's by the Norwegian collector Korneliussen. An episode where collectors used dynamite at the site without permission from the landowner has made collectors unpopular and not always welcome in the area making examples of this material hard to find.
B-209 Barite $45 Congreso-León Mine, San Pedro Corralitos, Municipio de Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico 4.6 x 3.1 x 2.1 cm This aesthetic specimen of Barite consists of very thin group of pointed tabular blades to 3.3 centimeters perched on gossan matrix. There is also a secondary growth of smaller Barite crystals on one side of the specimen. These specimens were collected by Benny Fenn around 1970-71.
A-117 Artinite $35 Artinite Pit, Picacho Peak, New Idria District, San Benito County, CA 2.4 x 2.6 x .3 cm A radiating spray of the rather rare and lesser-known carbonate mineral, Artinite. People are usually surprised when told that it is a carbonate, because it has the appearance of several silicate minerals and forms in a somewhat atypical carbonate environment.
V-024 Vanadinite $50 ACF Mine, Mibladen mining District, Midelt Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco 3.3 x 2.6 x 1.4 cm A rather large and hoppered crystal of Morocco's signature mineral, Vanadinite. This richly-colored specimen is complete all around and makes for an eye-catching display piece.
S-134 Stellerite $55 Aurangabad District, Maharashtra, India 5 x 4 x 2 cm. Fine crystallized Stellerites are only found in a handful of localities worldwide. Stellerite is a species very close in structure and chemistry to Stilbite and can be mistaken for Stilbite. Both Stellerite and Stilbite occasionally assume a bow-tie-like form. This specimen is an example of this type of formation taken to the extreme and in my opinion that sets it above the majority of examples of these types of specimens. The light-peach-colored Stellerite presented here has a good lustre and presents well in any number of different orientations.
A-107 Analcime $40 Croft Quarry, Croft, Leicestershire, England, UK 4 x 3.1 x 2.6 cm. A quite gemmy orange stained specimen of Analcime crystals to 1.4 cm. across. The orange-colored mineral inclusions highlight the geometric form of the Analcime crystals. A very lustrous example of this Zeolite mineral.
C-238 Chalcopyrite $50 Huaron Mines, Huaron Mining District, Pasco Province, Pasco Department, Peru 4.5 x 3.9 x 2.9 cm. Here we have a large, for its species, twinned crystal of Chalcopyrite perched on a matrix of Sphalerite. As an accent to this specimen there are several Quartz crystals. A very attractive miniature-sized specimen. Not your usual Peruvian sulphide specimen.
P-075 Pyrite $35 Brushy Creek Mine, Greeley, Reynolds County, Missouri 4.5 x 1.3 x 1 cm. A neat and unusual little specimen from the famous Brushy Creek Mine in Missouri. This curvy column of shiny Pyrite crystals looks even better in person.
P-093 Plumbogummite on Pyromorphite $45 Yangshuo Mine, Guilin Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China 2.5 x 1.7 x 1.1 cm A small spray of Pyromorphite crystals that have been coated or partially replaced by the Lead mineral Plumbogummite. From a pocket collected in November of 2014.
P-020 Painite SOLD Wet-loo, Mogok, Pyin-Oo-Lwin District, Mandalay, Burma 15 x 7 x 3 mm. This cool thumbnail specimen represents one of the rarest gem minerals known. Until about a year ago only several examples of this mineral were known to exist. While more have been found recently, the quantity has not been that significant. Examples of this mineral are selling for insane prices (often in the four-figure range) with cut stones going for thousands of dollars per carat. Since this crystal is not gemmy I can afford to sell it for a very reasonable price. Another neat fact is that this crystal was one of the 6 mineral specimens that were featured in mindat.org's 2006 Tucson Inn Suites show report.
E-025 Epidote $40 Green Monster Mountain, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska 3 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm. This Epidote crystal comes from a mineral location that Peter Bancroft dubbed as one of the world's most inaccessible areas and a wild and forbidding spot to collect. Fine Epidote specimens from this remote location are much prized by collectors and in my opinion they are among the finest examples of this mineral species.
O-026 Hyalite Opal with Carbonate-rich Fluorapatite $40 Valec, Doupov, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic 3.2 x 2.6 x 2 cm A beautiful, water-clear Hyalite Opal perched on matrix. This Opal is so glossy and transparent, it is very difficult to photograph. The formation of the Opal resembles bubbling water. This specimen is also covered with numerous white crystals of the rare, carbonate-rich variety of the mineral Fluorapatite.
O-027 Hyalite Opal with Carbonate-rich Fluorapatite $35 Valec, Doupov, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic 3.6 x 3.2 x 2.1 cm A beautiful, water-clear Hyalite Opal perched on matrix. This Opal is so glossy and transparent, it is very difficult to photograph. The formation of the Opal resembles bubbling water. This specimen is also covered with numerous white crystals of the rare, carbonate-rich variety of the mineral Fluorapatite.
S-125 Gypsum variety Selenite $40 Lake Gilles, Corunna Station, Australia 3.6 x 3.9 x 4.5 cm. When one thinks of Selenite from Australia, on thinks of the needle-like sprays that are quite abundant. What we have here is a much more uncommon crystal from Australia. This Selenite is complete all around and has a textbook-like form with a fishtail termination on its bottom. This Selenite is much clearer than it appears in the photo.
C-264 Corundum variety Ruby $50 Ganesh, Hunza Valley, Gilgit District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan 3.2 x 3.2 x 1.8 cm Here we have a 2.5 centimeter crystal of ruby on a matrix of Calcite. the crystal has a good luster and does allow some light to pass through. Depending on the lighting that it is viewed under the specimen will either appear red or a purple-red colored. Ganesh is one of the oldest and more renowned Ruby & Sapphire localities in the world.
P-077 Pyromorphite $75 Daoping Mine, Guilin Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China 2.4 x 2.4 x 1.5 cm. The Daoping mine is China's premier locality for world-class Pyromorphite crystals. The amazing thing, though, is that amongst the multitude of Pyromorphite to be found from this all-but-defunct location there were a small number of extremely large (for the species) single crystals. These chunky single crystal specimens made their debut at Tucson in 2008 and were quickly bought by savvy collectors.
C-258 Corundum variety Sapphire $50 Zazafotsy Quarry, Ihosy District, Ihorombe Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar 5 x 4.6 x 4.4 cm Here we have a chunky polychromatic Sapphire. This specimen features a stepped termination and has a dusting of Biotite crystals. The crystal shown here shows varying shades of red-purple depending on which lighting source you use to look at it. This Sapphire is rather large for the location.
A-110 Anglesite with Paratacamite & Boleite $60 Amelia Mine, Boleo District, Santa Rosalía, Municipio de Mulegé, Baja California Sur, Mexico 2.7 x 1.5 x 1 cm Anglesite crystals are not that uncommon, but from the Amelia Mine they are almost unheard of. When they are found they typically measured in millimeters. This example, at 2.7 cm, is huge by Boleo District standards. And if that isn't enough for you, this double-terminated crystal also has inclusions of Boleite as well as clusters of Paratacamite on its surface, some of which are are either covering Boleite crystals or are pseudomorphs after Boleite.
S-155 Stibnite with Quartz $30 Murray Mine, Independence Mountains District, Elko County, NV 4.7 x 1.4 x 1 cm A small cluster of the antimony sulfide mineral, Stibnite. This specimen has tiny crystals of Quartz on one side. The Murray Mine is noted for its Stibnite crystals.
S-117 Siderite with Calcite $35 Nikolaevskiy Mine, Dal'negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia 4.2 x 4.2 x 2.4 cm. An unusual, partially hollow ball of tan Siderite with scattered, lustrous, translucent Calcite blades from the classic Nikolaevskiy Mine, Dal'negorsk, Russia. This is classic material from this mine and not often seen these days.
S-059 Silver with Bornite $50 La Noria Mine, San Pantaleón de la Noria, Munincipio de Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico 4 x 3 x 2 cm. A sheet of Silver flanked by two chunky Silver crystals with a coating of iridescent Bornite. A good example of this classic mineral association from a long defunct locality. A specimen that would make an excellent addition to anyone's mineral collection.
D-031 twinned Dolomite $35 Hormuz Island, Hormozgan, Iran 2.5 x 2.4 x .4 cm These tabular Dolomites are classic but are very rarely seen from this famous Hematite locale on Hormuz Island. The penetration-twin habit is quite appealing to the eye. The two dolomites have a decent luster and are dark-gray-brown in color. There are contacts from where it grew around other crystals but this specimen is damage-free.
F-168 Feldspar variety Hyalophane SOLD Zagradski Potok Mine, Zagradski Creek, Busovaca, Central Bosnia Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 x 2.3 x 1.6 cm. A crystal of one of the rarer varieties of Feldspar, Hyalophane, from the classic locality of Zagradski Potok Mine which in my opinion is the only one for good specimens of this species. Hyalophane is the Barium analog of Orthoclase. This clear-to-opaque crystal exhibits parallel growth and has a good luster. This mineral location was lost for years, until in 1978, a group of collectors rediscovered it. Very few specimens of this species make it to the United States as they are highly prized by European collectors.
AD-224 Aluminite SOLD Newhaven Cliffs, Newhaven, Lewes, East Sussex, England, UK 3.5 x 3.2 x 3 cm An example of the hydrated aluminum sulfate mineral, Aluminite. These nodules are found in concretionary deposits in clays, marls, and lignites and formed by the action of sulfate solutions derived from the decay of Pyrite or Marcasite on aluminous silicates.
P-048 Pyromorphite SOLD Society Girl Mine, Moyie, British Columbia, Canada 2 x 1.1 x 1.3 cm. This Pyromorphite is a rare locality piece from our neighbors to the north. Only a few Canadian locations have ever produced any Pyromorphite crystals of note, the Society Girl Mine being the most famous. This well formed compound crystal is an excellent example from a country not known for its Pyromorphite specimens.
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