Over 2 years of mining here, there was been only one pocket to my knowledge, showing any pieces with a rich calcite association. Presented here are several pieces from that pocket (found sometime in early 2010), which had been held back til now. No more has been found since, of this quality or style. Brilliantly lustrous crystals of the rare variety of garnet, topazolite, are starkly contrasted on this calcite matrix. The crystals reach 1.7 cm in size and they are like little jewels�incredibly bright and flashy, almost metallic in their reflections. They are razor sharp, very 3-dimensional compared to the usual more flat style found in the majority of topazolite garnets worldwide. The color varies in reflected light, but is basically an olive-green with slight tinges of yellows and other green hues. The piece is large, dramatic, and very flashy in person - the finest example in this lot of specimens I locked down just after Tucson (and so they have not been seen until now). Again, the garnets look almost metallic when you see them at first. Further production here declined in 2010 and I expect to continue at only a modest pace compared to the easier pickings of the first year. For more information and location photos, see our update from 2010, here: http://www.irocks.com/Demantoid_Garnet_Topazolite_Garnet_Madagascar_Garnet.html. Joe Budd photos

Over 2 years of mining here, there was been only one pocket to my knowledge, showing any pieces with a rich calcite association. Presented here are several pieces from that pocket (found sometime in early 2010), which had been held back til now. No more has been found since, of this quality or style. Brilliantly lustrous crystals of the rare variety of garnet, topazolite, are starkly contrasted on this calcite matrix. The crystals reach 1.3 cm in size and they are like little jewels�incredibly bright and flashy, almost metallic in their reflections. They are razor sharp, very 3-dimensional compared to the usual more flat style found in the majority of topazolite garnets worldwide. The color varies in reflected light, but is basically an olive-green with slight tinges of yellows and other green hues. The piece is large, dramatic, and very flashy in person. Again, the garnets look almost metallic when you see them at first. This piece is the richest of the calcites in the lot, to my knowledge. Further production here declined in 2010 and I expect to continue at only a modest pace compared to the easier pickings of the first year. For more information and location photos, see our update from 2010, here: http://www.irocks.com/Demantoid_Garnet_Topazolite_Garnet_Madagascar_Garnet.html. Joe Budd photos

Over 2 years of mining here, there was been only one pocket to my knowledge, showing any pieces with a rich calcite association. Presented here are several pieces from that pocket (found sometime in early 2010), which had been held back til now. No more has been found since, of this quality or style. Brilliantly lustrous crystals of the rare variety of garnet, topazolite, are starkly contrasted on this calcite matrix. The crystals reach 1.6 cm in size and they are like little jewels�incredibly bright and flashy, almost metallic in their reflections. They are razor sharp, very 3-dimensional compared to the usual more flat style found in the majority of topazolite garnets worldwide. The color varies in reflected light, but is basically an olive-green with slight tinges of yellows and other green hues. The piece is large, dramatic, and very flashy in person. Again, the garnets look almost metallic when you see them at first. Further production here declined in 2010 and I expect to continue at only a modest pace compared to the easier pickings of the first year. For more information and location photos, see our update from 2010, here: http://www.irocks.com/Demantoid_Garnet_Topazolite_Garnet_Madagascar_Garnet.html. Joe Budd photos

Recently exchanged to me from the large collection of Jack Halpern, this is a very appealing, sculpturally carved matrix of massive selenite that is host to numerous gem crystals within. It is actually a complete pocket, preserved intact (by removing and trimmig with a saw, to extract it, but this is par for the course on one of these). It is very beautiful and sparkling, both because of the gem crystals themselves and for the contrast to the drusy crystallization coating the matrix pocket in which they grew. One of the better examples I have seen in recent years, these were once common but are now scarce. Jack obtained it from dealer Ken Roberts in the 1980s. Joe Budd photos

This is one of the largest examples of a Brazilian milarite I have come across, and happens to be a particularly fullsized thumbnail specimen. Milarite is a highly coveted, yet rare, hydrated, potassium, calcium, aluminum, beryllium silicate. It is best known from the Alps and Brazil, plus a small 1970s find in Mexico. This specimen features a fine, lustrous and translucent, apple green, milarite crystal. These are about 25 years old, and none of quality have been found since the mid-1980s to my knowledge. I think this is just a superb thumbnail for both the significance of the species. The crystal is also of large size for both the locality and for the species, surpassed only by a few freakish specimens from the Alps perhaps. From the Ron Pellar thumbnail collection being dispersed at Tucson, 2011. Joe Budd photos

Nambulite is one of the rarest of the rare species in display quality crystal form, and the best crystals came from only a small pocket found in a wildcat dig site near the Kombat Mine, in the early 1970s. At that time, collector John Barlow bought the majority of the pocket including this thumbnail crystal. I have NOT seen the material for sale in ANY quality or size since the Barlow collection was dispersed, and this is a specimen i sold back at that time (1999) and have recently bought back again. It is so incredibly rare; most folks will never own any. Joe Budd photos

Cumengeite was found here just prior to 1900 and incredible specimens of this rare silver species were brought back to France by the great french mining explorer, Edouard Cumenge. Cumengeite is MUCH MORE RARE than the boleite from this locality, with only about 1 cumengeite found per several hundred boleite specimens recovered in a modern (1970s) re-mining effort. To this day, sometimes one can get lucky and see these crystals turn up in old collections in France - the source for these crystals which were highgraded by a French collector over many years of watching for them at such dispersals. A small new find came to market in the 1970s through the collecting duo of Bill Larson and Ed Swoboda, who rediscovered and worked the same site - but these are actually from the older finds. The older crystals , from my comparisons of the modern material to the museums' older material, tend to be more robust and with generally sharper faces and a brighter color. These definitely are from the older finds, though in any case ANY good cumengeite crystal is quite rare. Each crystal here is very sharp, very bright, and shows the stunning twinned sixling symmetry that the best examples are known for. These crystals are good sized, with one just over 1 centimeter. ALL ARE RAZOR SHARP AND COMPLETE FLOATERS, and this should be considered a premium in rarity. Joe Budd photos

A rare locality piece! This is a neat cluster of two very gemmy , intergrown diamonds showing unusual rounded crystal form. It is a respectable size thumbnail specimen and diamond , at 20.53 carats. Although the smaller of the two, this is more aesthetic. I cannot say I have seen the like from any other locale, either. This was one of two such diamonds I bought at the Tucson 2009 show and have held back awaiting hopes of more from my source (but no more came out). The piece is illustrated in the "Whats New from Tucson" article for that year (May June issue, 2009, page 248). I have not seen more since that show. Joe Budd photos

A rare locality piece! This is a relatively large, very gemmy diamond showing unusual rounded, extended crystal form. The piece is large, at 32.13 carats of solid diamond. It is large and extended and certainly LOOKS like it is bigger than it weighs because of its surface area to volume ratio. This was one of two such diamonds I bought at the Tucson 2009 show and have held back awaiting hopes of more from my source (but no more came out). The piece is illustrated in the "Whats New from Tucson" article for that year (May June issue, 2009, page 248). I have not seen more since that show. Joe Budd photos

This locality has, in rare spurts, put out some of the finest copper specimens of the last few decades. This particular piece is unusual for its look of being a concatenated chain of super sharp and 3-dimensional copper crystals stacked one on top of another. I love how the stack has sharp untwinned crystals right to the top an dthen the final summit is a spinel twinned copper, like a crooked star on top of a Christmas tree in appearance. The overall look of the piece is just, very sharp an ddistinct from the normal styles here. It has a natural oxidation patina to it, and has not been cleaned to disturb that subtly graded reddish-brown look (which many copper collectors love). ex Ed David collection by exchange to me. Joe Budd photos

An old-time specimen of some note for the locality because of the richness and quallity of the pyrrhotite crystallization. This is nicely perched on contrasting pink rhodochrosite. Nice old classic, in unusually good quality, and from an old collection. Joe Budd photos

The photos speak for themselves here. This is a WORLD CLASS level aquamarine of the most intense color seen from this part of the world. It is more blue than 99.99 % of all other aquas and has to rank among the top examples of the species from these modern finds, in my opinion. It practically radiates color, and has a sharp and robust hexagonal form. And as good as the photos are, in person it has an even higher lustre and a more intense and bright gemminess to the eye than the camera sees. It is visible from across a room. Contact us for more information on this important specimen. Joe Budd photos.

I have seen a number of austinites from the recent mining era at Ojuela, trickle out in pockets from about 2000 til now. However, as much as I think I see, some things get by me and my sources. I had heard about this pocket of large, translucent austinites. But, I missed it in Mexico and it ended up in the hands of Arizona dealer Gene Schlepp, who sold this supposedly best-of-pocket piece to Ed David a few years ago. This is a dramatic, full-on cabinet piece that has to be among the best of species. The seemingly botryoidal clusters show minute crystallization atop, even color without the usual brown stains or inclusions, and are simply HUGE in size at over an inch across. The unique color and texture differentiates them from Adamite from the same mine. This is a particularly well-trimmed matrix, accenting the large clusters. Ex Ed David collection, traded to me only recently in exchange. He obtained it in a trade from east coast collector Frank Imbriacco's collection. Note that the piece has THREE display angles and I like all - either side up, or horizontal! Joe Budd photos