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D06-26 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 215 SOLD N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa miniature, 3.2 x 3.1 x 2.2 cm
Oyelite is a fairly rare silicate, and these specimens are said by those who saw them at the show to be just remarkable, the best known yet. For me, I have not seen the mineral well-crystallized except as crusts with others atop, or as a crust atop xonotlite, in the past. And yet when i saw these I thought they actually looked like something rare that a normal person can appreciate for the size and importance of the crystals! This specimen freatures choice crystals to 8 mm
D06-27 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 200 N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa miniature, 4.6 x 4.4 x 3.4 cm
This specimen freatures a choice crystal of 10 mm
D06-28 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 750 N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa miniature, 4.9 x 4.7 x 3.3 cm
THE LARGEST CRYSTAL, to about 1.8 cm on largest edge, is perched on a beautifully trimmed matrix miniature!
D06-29 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 225 N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa miniature, 4.5 x 2.6 x 2.4 cm
Very aesthetic cluster with a central crystal of 11mm, flanked by cute smaller ones. Nice trim and display qualities!
D06-30 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 135 N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa miniature, 5.9 x 4.2 x 2.4 cm
Featuring a very sharp 8 mm crystal on nice matrix
D06-32 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 165 SOLD N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa small cabinet, 6.2 x 3.9 x 2.6 cm
A single beautiful, well-formed, isolated 9mm crystal perched on sparkling calcite matrix! This would probably make for a killer thumbnail, if trimmed down.
D06-33 - Oyelite on Calcite - $ 300 N’Chwaning II Mine, Kuruman, KMF District, Northern Cap, South Africa small cabinet, 6.0 x 5.0 x 4.2 cm
This was the richest small cabinet piece, for my taste, featuring distinct and isolated crystals to 7 mm , on good contrasting matrix. It is very 3-dimensional and displays well (it is actually complete around the backside with another coupla crystals on calcite there).
ETTR-1001 - Ettringite - $ 3000 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 7.2 x 5.6 x 4 cm
This specimen features a 5 x 2 x 1.7 cm ettringite crystal sticking up from a diagonal shard of matrix. The crystal is a pleasing lemon-yellow color, translucent, completely formed and free of damage. It has an unusual shimmering surface sheen to it, as do most of these. It is very rare to find large ettringites on matrix, particularly with such good display, from past finds (mostly in the 1980s).Like most pieces from this pocket, it exhibits an unusually good tapering of the barrel-shaped termination whereas past finds tended to have a more blocky barrel-shape all the way to the termination. The matrix is a black manganese-rich ore with a thin soft Oyelite (perhaps with Bultfonteinite) deposition on its front side. It is speckled at the lower-left with sparkling micro-hausmannite crystals.
ETTR-1002 - Ettringite on Oyelite - $ 2000 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 8 x 6 x 4.5
This specimen features a 5.8-cm-long, doubly-terminated ettringite crystal perched on a rolling carpet of soft white matrix. The crystal is lemon-yellow color, translucent, completely formed and free of damage - although it has an odd etched or rough area near the bottom termination (that seems a natural growth asymmetry). It has an unusual shimmering surface sheen to it, as do most of these. It is very rare to find large ettringites on matrix, particularly with such good display, from past finds (mostly in the 1980s).The matrix is a manganese-rich ore completely covered with a blanket of soft Oyelite (perhaps with Bultfonteinite) deposition on its front side. It is covered on the backside with sparkling micro-hausmannite crystals.
ETTR-1003 - Ettringite on Oyelite - $ 1900 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 6.5 x 3.2 x 2.4 cm
This ethereal nicely-sized specimen features a 6-cm-long, doubly-terminated ettringite crystal perched on a small knoll of soft white matrix. The crystal is a soft lemon-yellow color, translucent, and complete all around except for a small, shallow natural contact in the upper-right on one face. It is stark and dramatic, as it rises from the well-trimmed matrix! It has an unusual shimmering surface sheen to it, as do most of these. It is very rare to find large ettringites on matrix, particularly with such good display, from past finds (mostly in the 1980s). The matrix is a manganese-rich ore completely covered with a blanket of soft Oyelite (perhaps with Bultfonteinite) deposition on its front side. It is accented on the backside with sparkling micro-hausmannite crystals.
ETTR-1004 - Ettringite on Oyelite - $ 750 SOLD Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 6 x 5 x 3.5 cm
A beautiful matrix piece, rare for the species, with 5 crystals to 3 cm perched against a rolling carpet of soft white matrix. The crystals are a soft, almost-lemon-yellow color, translucent, completely formed and free of damage. They have an unusual shimmering surface sheen , attractive. The matrix is a manganese-rich ore completely covered with a blanket of soft Oyelite (perhaps with Bultfonteinite) deposition on its front side. It is covered on the backside with sparkling micro-hausmannite crystals.
ETTR-1005 - Ettringite on Oyelite - $ 1350 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 7.7 x 5.2 x 4 cm
A beautiful matrix piece, rare for the species, with a pinwheel-shaped, 3-dimensional cluster of crystals perfectly centered on matrix. Very aesthetic! They are to 2.5 cm long, starkly contrasting against a rolling carpet of soft white Oyelite (perhaps with Bultfonteinite). The crystals are a pastel almost-lemon-yellow color, translucent, completely formed and free of damage. They have an unusual shimmering surface sheen , very attractive. The matrix is a manganese-rich ore completely covered with a blanket of soft Oyelite (perhaps with Bultfonteinite) deposition on its front side. It is covered on the backside with sparkling micro-hausmannite crystals.
ETTR-1006 - Ettringite on Oyelite - $ 2100 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa cabinet, 13.7 x 7.5 x 7 cm
One of the larger good matrix specimens, this is a beautiful matrix piece, rare for the species, with a 3-dimensional cluster of crystals perfectly centered on matrix. Very aesthetic! The crystals are to 3.2 cm long, and the cluster overall is 5.2 cm across. All are starkly contrasting against a rolling carpet of soft white Oyelite. The crystals are a soft, lemon-yellow color, translucent, completely formed and free of damage. They have an unusual shimmering surface sheen , very attractive. The matrix is a manganese-rich ore completely covered on the front by a blanket of soft Oyelite deposition on its front side. It is covered on the backside with BRILLIANTLY sparkling carpet of thousands of micro-hausmannite crystals and a few little metallic hematites. This combination overall is vastly different from anything else I have seen for the species, and quite unusual in any case.
ETTR-1007 - Ettringite on Oyelite with Barite - $ 1250 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa cabinet, 13 x 10 x 5 cm
This large matrix cabinet piece features a perfectly situated , doubly-terminated, 5-cm-long crystal perched atop. It is uncanny, how it just hangs there so fully exposed, as if placed gently down, and now anchored by the soft Oyelite and showing both terminations. The crystal is a soft lemon-yellow color, translucent, and complete all around. The matrix is gorgeous and unusual: This is a VERY heavy specimen, as the rolling carpet of soft Oyelite hides a hematite-rich matrix underneath. On the backside , it is nearly covered with sharp bladed barite crystals atop the hematite, unusual for this locality.
ETTR-1021 - Ettringite with Hausmannite and Oyelite - $ 5000 Nchwaning Mines, Kalahari Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 7 x 3.5 x 2.8 cm
Perhaps my personal favorite of the lot, this is an elegant, starkly dramatic single crystal of 6 cm length shotting up from a perfectly trimmed bit of accenting matrix that serves as a pedestal. The matrix is a thin plate of manganese gossan covered on one side by a rolling carpet of soft oyelite; and on the other by a brilliantly sparkling layer of micro-hausmannite crystals. It has a wonderful and unusual (compared to other species) lemony-yellow color, slightly pastel but not pale at all. It is hard to explain or convey in pictures, but there is a certain ethereal quality to these specimens that makes the crystals look "soft" and unusual compared to most other large crystalline species. And, this is a rather large example for this species. Remarkably, it is COMPLETE all around! Although past finds of ettringite have produced a few crystals of this size, and smaller ones with more intense color, these leap out at you from a case as something truly unusual, and this piece has aesthetics which take it to the next level still. I think, overall, these ghostly, deep yellow crystals, especially specimens like this on matrix, leap out from any collection as there are few species with such a color.
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