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Gallery 2 Smaller Mineral SpecimensReturn to Mineral Specimen Galleries
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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