Mixed Minerals!

A very mixed group of specimens with some very unusual items (even by my standards) ranging from exceptional 120+ year old Michigan specimens and Mexican classics, to phosphates and carbonates from Curacao, and even a Chinese autunite.  

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CAU02 Copper
Calumet & Hecla Mine, Calumet, Calumet Township, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA
8.5x 5.1x 1.8 cm
$4500

An excellent an unusually sculptural copper specimen, collected sometime between 1870 and 1890, and obtained from the descendant of a miner.

This "wire" habit (actually elongated crystals) is considered to be among the rarest of copper habits from Michigan.  All the "wires" have a clear termination, and the piece even sits atop a bit of matrix.

Exceptionally rare and high quality material that certainly stands out against the (literal) tons of other specimens out there, even among those that are larger.







CAU03 Copper
Calumet Hecla Mine, Calumet, Calumet Township, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA
6.9x 3.7x 2.9 cm
$0

So here is something quite special-- a specimen of copper "wires" from Michigan, mined sometime between 1870 and 1890.  This specimen comes from the descendant of a miner who was able to trace his ancestor's work in the area to those dates.

Simply put, this is an incredible piece, with multiple loops weaving around each other and at one point, even coming to a junction.  I have never seen another like it, and despite its relatively small size, it is the sort of piece that possesses the elegance and uniqueness lacking in even large clusters of sharp crystals.

Copper wires are considered to be one of the rarest habits from this prolific location (arguably the most important copper locality in the world) and specimens with this degree of heft and thickness are seldom seen for sale.  For the sake of comparison, a 1 mm thick, 1.5 cm wire from the Osceola mine is considered "very large."  

This "wire" habit is of course not the same as the ones that silver forms-- these copper wires are actually elongated crystals-- if you follow them to their ends you can even see terminations.

This is truly an amazing copper specimen








CAU04 Quartz (Japan Law Twin)
Narushima Island, Kyushyu Prov., Japan
4.6x 4.3x 1.2 cm
$880

A Japanese law twin FROM JAPAN! The smaller ones are not quite so difficult to find, but gemmy larger crystals like this are far less frequently encountered.  There is some contacting/ chipping near the base (they had to extract it somehow) but the piece is exactly as shown.











CAU05 Pyrrhotite
Aquilles Serdan, Santa Eualia, Chihuahua, Mexico
7.5x 3.3x 3.3 cm
$695

An excellent Mexican pyrrhotite, truly a cut above the usual.  This one has a great luster, is entirely damage free, and displays the elongated form characteristic of Mexican pyrrhotites.  While piece likely dates to the 1970's or early 80's, it has an old collection label stating that it was purchased at the 1988 Denver Show.  Today most of the pyrrhotite on the market comes from Dal'Negorsk, Russia-- these Mexican pieces came out 30-40 years ago.











CAU06 Azurite
Shilu Mine, Yangchun Co., Yangjiang Prefecture, Guangdong Province, China
8.2c 4.8c 3.1 cm
$650

A nice elongated cluster of sharp azurite crystals aggregated into radial, ball like clusters.  These used to be fairly common in the 90's, but good clean, sharp ones like this have become rather scarce.  They look a lot like the classic pieces from Chessy, France... only larger than the average from there.









CAU07 Fluorite
Yaogangxian Mine, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou, Hunan Prov.,, China
9.4x 9.5x 5.2 cm
$1100

A green fluorite specimen, composed of two crystals with purple outlines.  The back and sides are etched, the bottom is partially etched and partially contacted.









CAU09 Pyromorphite
Wheatley Mines, Pheonixville, Pennsylvania, United States
3.7x 3.5x 2.4 cm
$395

An excellent miniature sized sample of pyromorphite from the Wheatley Mine.  This is not one of the pieces found on the dumps-- the appearance is characteristic of specimens collected while the mines were in operation (and none of these free standing crystals would have survived that sort of thrashing around), meaning that this was likely collected in the 1800's. 







CAU10 Pyromorphite
San Luis Mine, San Jose, Chihuahua, Mexico
4.8x 1.75x 1.7 cm
$265

A rich and brightly colored pyromorphite specimen from the San Luis Mine.  These specimens date to the 1970's, and are considered to be the best (undisputed) Mexican pyromorphite examples.  I say "undisputed" because there are a number of examples from Mina Ojuela, but nobody can ever definitively say whether they are mimetite or pyromorphite... and either way, they lack the color of these pieces.









CAU12 Adamite
Mina Ojuela, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico
4.9x 3.5x 1.7 cm
$385

A beautiful and highly sculptural aggregate of yellow adamite crystals, with excellent luster.  This piece has a collector label that dates it to at least 1987.  These older ones are a lot nicer than the more 2 dimensional examples coming out these days, that are mostly just layers of small crystals scattered on limonite...







CAU13 Smithsonite
Kelly Mine, Magdalena District, Socorro Co., New Mexico, USA
7.0x 4.0x 2.2 cm
$175

A very brightly colored specimen of smithsonite from the Kelly Mine.  These smithsonites, with this color, are the indisputable best examples from the USA.  This one has a few spots of damage, but displays excellent luster and top color.  There is an old collector label that dates it to at least 1981.







CAU14 Lazulite
Rapid Creek, Dawson Mining District, Yukon Territory, Canada
9.7x 3.7x 2.6 cm
$335

A small cabinet sized specimen, richly covered with inky blue lazulites and quartz.  The largest crystal is just over 1 cm.







CAU15 Hematite on Quartz
Jinlong, Heyuan Prefecture, Guangdong Province, China
6.8x 6.3x 5.6 cm
$325

A nicely arranged specimen of bladey hematite on quartz, from Jinlong Hill.  There is some peripheral damage, but overall it is very good condition.... when I see these at shows I usually spend a couple minutes looking through them, but almost never buy them because there is almost always significant damage to the very thin hematite, or there are quartz crystals broken in exactly the wrong places.... This one doe snot have those issues.









CAU16 Calcite Hematite Fluorite Pyrite
Cape Province, South Africa
5.6x 3.7x 3.3 cm
$265

A very unusual specimen found sometime in the 70's or 80's, this piece has a number of bright tabular hematites and a couple white calcites, nicely accented by small purple fluorite cubes, metallic yellow pyrites, and some greenish mineral that I cannot identify.  Very odd, but pretty material.  There is a little damage to the calcite.  Better in person.







CAU17 Ettringite
N'Chwaning Mines, Kuruman, South Africa
2.1x 1.7x 1.5 cm
$150

A nice thumbnail of yellow ettringite from South Africa.  This piece likely dates to the 1980's.









CAU18 Copper
Osceola Mine, Houghton Co Michigan, USA
3.4x 2.7x 2.8 cm
$135

A nice "toenail" sized sample with an elongated copper crystal (with an odly hollow termination) on a nicely contrasting greenish matrix-- I'm guesing the color comes from olivine.







CAU19 Silver
Calumet Hecla Mine, Calumet, Calumet Township, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA
3.3x 2.8x 0.8 cm
$620

A nice little "toenail" of well crystallized silver from Michigan.  This piece was collected sometime between 1870 and 1890, and was obtained from the descendant of a miner who worked there.  One of the side crystals has a tapering chisel mark, from when it was freed from the host rock, over 120 years ago.









CAU20 Silver
Calumet Hecla Mine, Calumet, Calumet Township, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA
4.9x 1.5x 1.25 cm
$385

A sample silver from Michigan, with crude crystals visible.  This piece was collected sometime between 1870 and 1890, and was obtained from the descendant of a miner who worked there.







CAU21 Silver
Calumet Hecla Mine, Calumet, Calumet Township, Houghton Co., Michigan, USA
6.5x 1.3x 1.0 cm
$275

A sample silver from Michigan, with crude crystals visible.  This piece was collected sometime between 1870 and 1890, and was obtained from the descendant of a miner who worked there.









CAU22 Azurite on Malachite
Khanong open pit, Sepon Mine, Vilabouly District, Savannakhet Province, Laos
7.5x 4.0x 3.8 cm
$365

A very nice sample of glassy and super lustous azurite on a matrix partially coated with nicely contrasting malachite.  These Laotian azurites have been seeping out over the last couple years-- this one is relatively small, but I liked how distinct the crystals were.  









CAU23 Autunite
Nanjingqiao U deposit, Pingjiang Co., Yueyang Prefecture, Hunan Province, China
3.3x 3.0x 2.6 cm
$400

Now here is something small, but very special-- a CHINESE AUTUNITE!  (Yes, I felt the need to put that in capital letters.)  I cannot recall ever seeing radioactive Chinese minerals for sale and never any autunite.  I obtained three pieces, this was the best.    I have stabilized this with water soluble white glue.







CAU24 Fluorite on Quartz
Yaogangxian Mine, Chenzhou, Hunan Prov., China
6.6x 2.1x 3.3 cm
$335

A very sharp and transparent purplish fluorite cube perched on the side of a quartz crystal.  The quartz crystal has two crude terminations, that seem to be broken and rehealed.









CAU25 Pyrite on Quartz
Santa Eualia, Chihuahua, Mexico
8.2x 5.6x 4.3 cm
$365

A very unusual quartz specimen, with little bits of pyrite on and just under the surfaces of a group of quartz crystals.  It could almost pass for an odd pyrrhotite specimen, but a slightly closer look shows that it is obviously quartz.  Sawn on the back, with minor peripheral damage.  It comes with a collector label that dates it to at least 1990.







CAU26 Smithsonite
Santa Eualia, Chihuahua, Mexico
5.0x 3.3x 2.5 cm
$185

A decent sample of botryoidal yellow cadmian smithsonite from Mexico.  There are unfortunately a couple significant blemishes, but this is still a hard to get example of this material.  Most of the Mexican smithsonite available these days has come from the El Refugio Mine in Sinaloa-- those have the same botryoidal form, but I do not think I have ever seen a yellow one.  The Santa Eualia area produces specimens in the yellow-orange-brown range, though good botryoidal examples like this are largely a thing of the past, and this color is considered to be the best from this location.  This piece has an old collector label that dates it to at least 1996. 







CAU27 Adamite
Mina Ojuela, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico
2.7x 2.0x 1.3 cm
$160

A very bright, neon yellow adamite cluster with hints of green.  An excellent thumbnail.









CAU28 Adamite
Mina Ojuela, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico
2.4x 2.1x 2.1 cm
$145

A radiating cluster of elongated adamite crystals, from Mexico.  There is a small saw mark on the reverse.  This one has a label that dates it to at least 1974.







CAU29 Pyrite
Racracancha Mine, Tinyahuarco Dist., Pasco Prov., Pasco Dept., Peru
6.0x 5.0x 4.0 cm
$185

A lustrous cluster of unusually shaped pyrite crystals from Racracancha, that are unusually free of damage, save very minor edge wear 1 sport.  This piece displays the striated faces characteristic of the mine.  









CAU30 Galena ps. Stibnite
San Genaro Mine, Huancavelica Dept., Peru
5.4x 5.7x 2.2 cm
$165

An unusual peruvian pseudomorph, from a mine that has not produced many specimens since the early 90's (in fact, this one has a label dating it to at least 1989.)  This was once a radiating spray of stibnite crystals, but it has since been pseudomorphed by galena.







CAU32 Apophyllite
El Refugio Mine, Guanajuato, Mexico
5.2x 4.7x 4.3 cm
$145

An old and reasonably rare example of apophyllite from Mexico.  The apophyllites are coating a group of scalenohedral calcites, and those are cleaved on the bottom. It goes without saying that 999 out of 1000 apophyllite specimens are from India... this one is from somewhere else.







CAU33 Kaolinite ps. Orthoclase
St. Austell District, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
4.7x 2.8x 0.9 cm
$185

An old and very well formed example of kaolinite after orthoclase, from Cornwall.  These were (and are) found in quarries mining for kaolinite clays used for making pottery.







CAU34 Kaolinite ps. Orthoclase
St. Austell District, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
3.8x 2.0x 1.6 cm
$135

An old and very well formed example of kaolinite after orthoclase, from Cornwall.  These were (and are) found in quarries mining for kaolinite clays used for making pottery.







CAU35 Calaverite
Cripple Creek, Colorado
5.0x 3.0x 0.65 cm
$175

A small slab containing brassy yellow calaverite, a rare gold telluride, from Colorado.  This piece has an old collector label dating it to at least 1980.







CAU36 Quartz var. Amethyst
Aurina Valley (Ahrnbach Valley), Bolzano Province (South Tyrol), Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
6.2x 3.9x 2.4 cm
$100

An unusual quartz specimen from the Italian Alps, this piece is composed of a terminated, lightly colored amethyst crystal situated next to an oddly sloping (though also terminated) colorles quartz crystal.  The colorless crystal has a small chip on the termination.  Contacted/ etched on the reverse.

This comes with an old collector label stating that it was purchased in Firenze in 1985.









CAU37 Garnet var. Demantoid
Malenco Valley, Valtellina, Sondrio Province, Lombardy, Italy
3.7x 3.2x 1.3 cm
$165

A cluster of green demantoid garnets, with little bits of asbestos, from Italy.  This piece comes with an old collector label that dates it to at least 1988.







CAU38 Helvite
Wushan Mine, Tongbei, Fujian Prov., China
7.4x 4.0x 2.3 cm
$285

A nice example of helvite on matrix, from the Wushan Spessartine Mine.  These were found a few years ago.







CAU39 Fluorite, Quartz with Calcite
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
9.7x 1.5x 1.5 cm
$200

An unusual and aesthetic quartz crystal, from a locality that seems to specialize in unusual quartz.  This is a single elongated and terminated crystal with patches of brownish quartz that have grown in selective patches along the crystal's lateral faces. Over this have grown a number of calcite rhombs, and even a small, etched fluorite octahedron.  The color is slightly less intense in person.







CAU40 Vivianite Pseudomorph
Tafelberg Mtn., Curacao
6.3x 4.7x 2.6 cm
$395

This is one of the oddest things I have ever posted on this website-- a pseudomorph of some type of phosphate (whitlockite?) after what is most likely vivianite, perched on a stalactite of more phosphate mateiral.

This comes with a colelctor label stating that it was purchased in Curacao in 1980.

How often do you see a specimen from Curacao?  Or anywhere in the Caribbean, for that matter?







CAU41 Calcite
Tafelberg Mtn., Curacao
8.0x 5.6x 4.3 cm
$325

A faintly pink (almost colorless) cluster of calcite crystals from Curacao-- something for the calcite collector who has it all.

This piece comes with a collector label stating that it was purchased in Curacao in 1980.

How often do you see minerals from this part of the world?  







CAU42 Whitlockite
Tafelberg Mtn., Curacao
6.2x 5.2x 3.6 cm
$175

A cluster of whitlockite epimorphs of gypsum. 

This piece comes with a collector label stating that it was purchased in Curacao in 1980.

How often do you see minerals from this part of the world?  







CAU43 Calcite
Tafelberg Mtn., Curacao
7.3x 6.0x 3.7 cm
$200

A nice sample of elongate calcite scalenohedrons from the Caribbean. 

This piece comes with a collector label stating that it was purchased in Curacao in 1980.

How often do you see minerals from this part of the world?  







CAU44 Calcite
Tafelberg Mtn., Curacao
3.8x 3.8x 3.7 cm
$80

A cluster of calcite crystals from the Caribbean. Not perfect, but how often do you see minerals from this part of the world?  







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