 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
Smaller Mineral SpecimensReturn to Mineral Specimen Galleries
|
|||||||||
|
G-168 Gmelinite-Na $35 Simmons Bay, Flinders Area, Victoria, Australia 3.5 x 2.4 x 1.9 cm Well-formed, tapered, disc-like crystals of Gmelinite. The lustrous Gmelinite crystals have mostly white center portions with reddish-colored highlights towards the terminations.
D-038 Descloizite $45 Berg Aukas Mine, Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia 3.5 x 1.7 x 1 cm This Descloizite specimen is from a locality that is considered to be the undisputed world champion for this mineral species. The crystals on this are specimen shimmering silvery-brown, with dendritic form.
M-071 Magnetite with Epidote & Diopside $50 Marki Khel, Spin Ghar Range, Khogyani District, Nangarhar, Afghanistan 2.1 x 1.9 x 1.1 cm An excellent thumbnail specimen with sharply-formed octahedral Magnetite crystals on a bed of Epidote & Diopside. The Magnetite crystals are deep black in color and have very sharp faces. Afghanistan has some of the most complex and varied geology in the world. The oldest rocks are Archean and they are succeeded by rocks from the Proterozoic and every Phanerozoic system up to the present day. The country also has a long and complicated tectonic history, partly related to its position at the western end of the Himalaya. This diverse geological foundation has resulted in a significant mineral heritage with over 1400 mineral occurrences recorded to date.
W-030 Wulfenite & Calcite $40 Erupción Mine, Los Lamentos Mountains, Municipio Ahumada, Chihuahua, Mexico 4.1 x 2.9 x 2.7 cm This specimen consists of one isolated and three conjoined crystals of Wulfenite with a blocky form on a bed of Calcite. The Wulfenite crystals have good color and really stand out against the snow-white Calcite. There is no damage to this specimen although the crystal at the bottom of this specimen has been contacted at its base.
P-101 Prehnite on Epidote $35 Sandaré, Arrondissement Sandaré, Nioro Cercle, Kayes Region, Mali 2 x 2 x 1.7 cm A translucent, lime-green-colored sphere of Prehnite perched on a double-terminated crystal of Epidote. A fine, well-balanced and excellent example of this material.
B-257 Emerald $35 Pomba Pit, Serra das Éguas, Brumado, Bahia, Brazil 4 x .6 x .6 cm Here we have a single crystal of Emerald that has an unusual light-green colored outer skin with an almost white core. The notch in the upper portion of the crystal is not damage, it is where another crystal interfered with its growth. These specimens are from several small finds made in 2007 & 2008.
B-260 Aquamarine $40 Xuan Le, Thuong Xuân District, Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam 3.3 x .6 x .5 cm A very clear, medium-blue colored Aquamarine from Vietnam. This crystal has a stepped is termination with many growth hillocks.
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.
D-037 Diamond (12.66 carats) $600 Mbuji Mayi, Kasaï-Oriental, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.1 cm Here we have a good-sized, twinned Diamond crystal. This Diamond is somewhat translucent and has a sparkly, adamantine lustre. This specimen also has a pleasing honey-like color and is complete all around with no damage. A classic "floater" crystal from one of the most prolific diamond producing nations in the world.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
E-041 Epidote & Quartz $30 Messina Mine, Musina, Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa 5.3 x 3.3 x 2.7 cm A group of Quartz crystals that is heavily included with pistachio-green-colored crystals of Epidote.
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.
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.
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.
B-222 Aquamarine $30 Deo Darrah, Khash & Kuran Wa Munjan Districts, Badakhshan, Afghanistan 2.7 x 2.5 x 1.6 cm An example of alkali-rich Aquamarine from a region in Afghanistan that is better known for its endless Lapis deposits and fine-quality Hackmanite specimens. This specimen features 4 translucent, color-zoned, tabular Aquamarine crystals. Blue Beryl crystals from this locality were originally described as Vorobyevite, however analysis has shown no noticeable cesium level (but with higher levels of sodium and calcium) so it is essentially an alkali-rich beryl.
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 $40 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.
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-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.
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.
A-117 Artinite SOLD 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.
|
|
||||||||
|
|
© 2003 - 2021 Cal Neva Mineral Company Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing |
|
|||||||
