Mixed Minerals!

A large plate of orange calcite from the Pugh Quarry.  This comes from a local field collector, there are a couple missing crystals that are hard to see because this guy is notorious for spraying his rocks with stuff-- and I have to admit, the final product is actually really really good looking. Also, he is damn talented when it comes to extracting this stuff. The price takes this all into account, and I've disclosed it so I offer it with a clear conscience-- and again, it's actually a very nice looking piece.  There are a few pieces from this pocket included  in this update, their color saturation is particularly good, even from this location that generally tends to produce quite color saturated calcites.. 

A very nice example of lightly iridescent brown fluorite, with a couple beautifully contrasting purple crystals mixed in.   This is older material, from a part of the quarry that is apparently worked out-- and this is also considered to be one of the two more distinctive fluorite habits from the locality, the other being the crystals with the purple phantoms. 

A very beautifully arranged group of calcite crystals on matrix, with particularly good luster, from recent discoveries int he Viburnum Trend District.  

A very aesthetic combination specimen from the Viburnum Trend District, there is a crisp, clean appearance that is just not usual for the mines in this area. This specimen is also quite unusual because of the association of the well-formed spinel twinned galena crystals with the calcite. You see a lot of calcite from there, you see some spinel twins, but you don't often see the two together, 

A very good example of purple fluorite with little tufts of white barite, from the Marblehead Quarry in Ohio. This locality is in the same county as the more famous Clay Center (formally the Stoneco Whiterock Quarry) though specimens are much harder to come by!

A very beautiful doubly terminated calcite crystal on a thin sheet of matrix.  The matrix is also covered with small calcite crystals on both the front and back.  An excellent example from this Midwestern locality!

A beautifully arena cluster of orange calcite crystals from the Pugh Quarry.  This comes from a local field collector, this guy is notorious for spraying his rocks with stuff-- in this case it doesn't seem to be concealing any problems-- but he is damn talented when it comes to extracting this stuff. There are a few pieces from this pocket included  in this update, their color saturation is particularly good, even from this location that generally tends to produce quite color saturated calcites.

A nice example of purple fluorite on matrix, from he Huanggang Mine.  This piece comes from earlier discoveries at the mine, around 2011-2013.  The fluorite seems to have started off as the more typical colorless material from the mine, with the purple color being incorporated later in the crystal's growth. Saw marks on the back.

A nice example of purple fluorite with lollingite on matrix, from he Huanggang Mine.  This piece comes from earlier discoveries at the mine, around 2011-2013.  The fluorite seems to have started off as the more typical colorless material from the mine, with the purple color being incorporated later in the crystal's growth. Saw marks on the back.

A nice specimen of colorless, octahedral fluorite from relatively older finds at the Huanggang Mine. 

A pretty cluster of deep orange calcite crystals, from the Pugh Quarry. This comes from a local field collector, this guy is notorious for spraying his rocks with stuff-- but he also does a great job of pulling them out--  he really gets them out clean!  There are a few pieces from this pocket included  in this update, their color saturation is particularly good, even from this location that generally tends to produce quite color saturated calcites.. 

A nice example of a sharp calcite scalenohedron on matrix, from the Pugh Quarry, in Ohio. 

A specimen of fluorite from the Auglaize quarry, this one has a couple small purple crystals in a vug lined by brown fluorite. 

A very transparent fluorite crystal from the Huanggang mine, this one has a very thin layer of purple growth on some surfaces, that gives it an interesting color. 

A large cluster of quatrtz crystals from the Kami Mine, with a decently sized Japan Law twin nestled among the rest of the "normal" crystals. 

A nice example of a Japan law twin nestled in a cluster of "regular" quartz crystals, from the Kami Mine in Bolivia. 

We are all familiar with the rutile from Graves Mountain, as well as the turgite and the lazuLite, but here is something odd: a hollow pseudomorph of hematite after pyrite. You can make out the general form of the pyrite that once existed, and there are actually a few small holes where you can see the blackness of the hollow cavity inside, and it feels way too light for an iron rich rock of this size. Really weird thing....

We are all familiar with the rutile from Graves Mountain, as well as the turgite and the lazuLite, but here is something odd: a hollow pseudomorph of hematite after pyrite. This one is open on one side, so you can see the hollow inside of the crystal from the front, and from the back you can see the sharp outline of what was once a pyrite crystal.

A pretty twinned calcite crystal from he Leaping Mine, in China's Hunan Province. 

A pretty twinned calcite crystal from he Leaping Mine, in China's Hunan Province. 

A rare matrix example of a copper after aragonite pseudomorph, from Bolivia. The ball shaped cluster was a group of hexagonal aragonite crystals, that are now copper. What makes this special is the thin matrix plate around it-- the vast majority of these are just loose, round clusters or single crystals. 

A rare matrix example of a copper after aragonite pseudomorph, from Bolivia. The ball shaped cluster was a group of hexagonal aragonite crystals, that are now copper. What makes this special is the thin matrix plate around it-- the vast majority of these are just loose, round clusters or single crystals. 

A very very good example of copper after aragonite from Bolivia.  Usually you see just one ball by itself, or one hexagonal crystal-- but this mini copper "snowman" is two balls connected by a tiny bit of copper. It's really just a slight difference from what you would normally encounter, but it makes a huge difference in terms of presentation!

A very nice example of copper after aragonite, this one has a single hexagonal crystal on a bit of matrix, with a beautiful greenish patina in certain spots that add a nice bit of contrast. The matrix and the bits of green patina are what make this one stand out!

A large single crystal of aragonite that has pseudomorphed to copper-- its a particularly sharp and nicely formed example of this material!

A very large cluster of hexagonal aragonite crystals that have pseudomorphed into copper. 

A large cluster of aragonite crystals that have pseudomorphed into copper, this one has an interesting sort of a rosette-like aspect to it....

A rare example of a copper after aragonite pseudomorph on matrix. 

A really big crystal of this thorn, uranium silicate from southern Canada. It goes without saying, this thing is very radioactive.  Its somewhat hard to get crystals this size-- this one is a bit crude (the big ones almost always are) but you can make out a number of faces and the general form. 

A rare example of this thorium, uranium silicate from southern Canada. It goes without saying, this is very radioactive!

A very nice thumbnail-sized example of this uranium and rare earth bearing oxide from southern Canada. The mineral is named after the type locality in Madagascar (where coincidentally, I have also bough betafites in the past) but these Canadian ones are generally much better!

A nice example of this rare thorium, uranium bearing oxide from the Silver Crater Mine in Canada. While not the type locality, this is the locality that arguably produced the best samples of this species.  It goes without saying, this is quite radioactive! 

A nice example of this rare thorium, uranium bearing oxide from the Silver Crater Mine in Canada.  This one is not note perfect, but has good overall form. While not the type locality, this is the locality that arguably produced the best samples of this species.  It goes without saying, this is quite radioactive! 

A nice example of this rare thorium, uranium bearing oxide from the Silver Crater Mine in Canada. While not the type locality, this is the locality that arguably produced the best samples of this species.  It goes without saying, this is quite radioactive! 

A nice example of this rare thorium, uranium bearing oxide from the Silver Crater Mine in Canada. This is a half of a crystal-- over a very, very long time the radioactivity damages their own crystal structures enough that they tend to split. While not the type locality, this is the locality that arguably produced the best samples of this species.  It goes without saying, this is quite radioactive! 

A thumbnail sized example of this very radioactive material from southern Canada,  These typically form crude crystals, but are actually some of the more sizable examples you can find from anywhere in the world-- this is a decent thumbnail