I had personally never seen a California Hubnerite before. This was a total surprise to me, when I noted the label. I am still surprised, as I lived in California for 8 years and never heard of such a thing. But here one is, and cabinet sized no less. It was obtained by dealer Scott Kleine from an old collection recently, and seems legit - it certainly looks like no hubnerite I have seen from elsewhere, for combination of style and matrix. The matrix matches that described on MINDAT as: a hydrothermal vein deposit hosted in andesite, rhyolite, tuff, basalt, and sedimentary breccia (http://www.mindat.org/loc-3431.html). A curiosity for the collection of US minerals and tungstates! NOTE - i was recently told that collector Neil Prenn supplied many of these to the market in the 1980s, when working the property as a mining consultant.

A sharp, very aesthetic , cluster of two elongated kunzite crystals. Clusters such as this are uncommon, usually being found just as singles. This piece has classic pink color, not intense but not pale either. It is especially notable, though, for the razor sharp terminations from a locale where most kunzite terminations are etched and not as sharp. It is pristine, and complete all around. Formerly in the Jim Houran collection, of Dallas, TX. This piece is illustrated in book IKONS: Classic and Contemporary Masterpieces, by Wayne Thompson , 2007 (shown in a travelogue section as an acquisition made on one of his many buying trips to Pakistan in the 1980s-1990s).Comes with custom lucite display base

This is one of the larger and most colorful specimens overall, in a lot I obtained at Tucson from this small 2009 find. Really quite remarkable for both species AND for a locale from which we never suspected or saw such things before! The purple coquimbite is included with internal specks of bright blue chalcanthite crystals. I have not seen this before and even in this find, it is not common. These crystals are among the world's best of species now, for both form and the robust purple color. This crystals are so well-developed, and so fine, some of the best of these look more like an Afghani apatite than any coquimbite i have seen from other locales, and many people were saying they are now among best of species material at the show. I am told a limited number came out. From the several hundred specimens we saw, we selected a few dozen of which this, although small overall, is one of my favorites.