|
Mineral Specimens with Pyrite
(click on a page number to go to that page:)
page 41 / 50 - prev - 737 specimens selected - next
A super old Indiana pyrite, with sharp, brassy octahedrons piled up very attractively - and microcrystals of accenting marcasite. Though there are plenty of Peruvian and Spanish pyrites around, you still do not see many of these Indiana ones around. 6.0 x 5.6 x 3.3cm
An old Italian specimen - a large floater of intricately modified crystals to 5 cm, with a beautiful brassy luster. The crystals show stepped microfaces in many places. Fine Italian pyrites are NOT common on the market! 9.9 x 8.7 x 6.2cm
The pics do not begin to capture the INCREDIBLE golden mirror-brightness of these pyrite crystals! They have gorgeous sharp form and beautiful striations on their faces. The larger crystals (to 4.5 cm)sits on a plate of massive pyrite covered with sparkly microcrystals, giving the specimen a pretty two-generation appearance. Despite the flood of cheap pyrites that come from Peru, the truly exceptional ones like this are still HIGHLY desirable and deserve a place in fine collections. BETTER IN PERSON! 16 x 14 x 6 cm
This is really a crystal of extremely rare quality. Most of us think of pyrite as being too damned common to belong in a fine collection sometimes, but a piece like this belays that trap of the mind. It is REALLY IMPRESSIVE in person for both the symmetry and the lustre. This large, 4-inch crysatl is perched dramatically on a few smaller ones and displays well from several angles as shown. 10.2 x 9.8 x 8.5 cm
From a find in 1984, this is a unique tourmaline with PYRITE in association! When do you see that?!The tourmaline is good on its own: It is a VERY impressive gem tourmaline with intense color, as you can see. The pyrite was found covering these, completely, and had to be picked away with small tools. Sometimes bits of tourmaline flake away with the pyrite cap when this is done. I did the work myself and a tiny sliver of the tourm did come off (i repaired it back on to the rear of the termination), but it is completely covered by the pyrite cap in any case...which is loose, and removeable as you wish, as you can see by comparing the top two pics. The pyrite cap itself, that covered the termination, is intact and is removeable so you can take it on and off the tourmie as you wish. A very unusual talking piece, from a single unique pocket! 5.5 x 2.4 x 1.8 cm
Sparkly and golden floater "sun" of pyrite, complete all around, with microcrystals in the center and larger, euhedral crystals around the periphery. 6.3 x 5.6 x 1.9cm
Light pink, with small, sharp crystals of pyrite embedded in rhodochrosite, on a matrix of quartz and sulfides. 7.3 x 5.3 x 3.6cm. (Originally wrongly labelled as from the Hirukawa pegmatite district in Gifu prefecture, but much more likely from the Oppu mine, or perhaps Hokkaido?)
It is easy to get jaded about pyrites, but you just do not see many good N''Chwaning ones around. This one has three super-glittery golden cluster, roughly balls, on matrix. The brightness did not come out at all in the pics - it is a super-flashy gold! 4.1 x 2.3 x 2.1cm
A unique specimen, like none I have seen before from this region. It features a superb, gemmy, transparent, twinned calcite measuring 3 cm across, perched with smaller calcites cascading down the termination of a deep purple amehtyst point. It is amazing such a thing survived being found and cut out of the enclosing amethyst cathedral in which it surely grew. The lustre, and contrasting colors, the complex form of the calcite...all combine to make this a really stunning and unique piece. 9.6 x 4.8 x 5.5 cm
Pyrites pour from Peru by the ton, but 99% of them are mediocre. The other 1%, on the other hand, are VERY desirable, and you will find them in the best collections. The crystals on this specimen have the absolute top mirror-luster you ever see in a pyrite – and not only that, they have beautiful striations on the faces and bevels on the edges that add to their beauty. The crystals measure to 2.5 cm across. 6 x 5.5 x 3.8 cm
Spectacular luster and sharpness characterize the fine cassiterite crystals on this Chinese specimen. The individual cassiterites, to 1.5 cm, are beautifully isolated on a bed of pyrite (rather than just lumped together), and the pyrite itself sits on a nest of quartz crystals. The camera had trouble distinguishing the cassiterites from the pyrite, but in person, there is a nice contrast, and the glassy crystals really jump out at you! 7.5 x 6 x 4 cm
FIRSTLY, THIS IS MUCH BETTER IN PERSON! Check out the fabulous 4.5-cm octahedron that crowns this dazzling specimen! The luster in person is a much brighter gold – just hard to capture in pics. The big octo sits on a natural base of smaller crystals. Out of all of them, only one minor crystal has a small (natural) contact where it grew against another crystal, and all is otherwise pristine. Peruvian pyrites are common, but NOT of this quality! In person, it is even better. This is, for the size, one of the finest pyrites I have ever handled. Compared to other minerals, a world class pyrite simnply doesn't cost a fortune, but that does not make it any less "world class" because of the fact that they are reasonably priced as a species. 6.5 x 6 x 5.5 cm
If you look at them without a jaded eye, these Spanish pyrites have to be amongst the most striking crystals in the mineral kingdom, for their amazing sharpness and mirror-bright luster. This perfect 2.5-cm cube on just the right amount of matrix was good enough to win it a place in the Hauck Collection. 7.5 x 5.5 x 5.0cm
A sensational old Missouri combo specimen from collection of German collector WH Leithauser, with super-sharp, hoppered crystals of galena to 1.5 cm on edge on a matrix of pyrite. Much FLASHIER in person! 4.7 x 4.2 x 3.5cm
GEMMY quartz crystals profusely covering a rounded matrix, with coated pyrites here and there. This is a large specimen, and quite dazzling, as you can see! 9.5 x 8.7 x 5.9cm
(click on a page number to go to that page:)
page 41 / 50 - prev - 737 specimens selected - next
Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com
All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The Arkenstone
Mineral Specimens by species; or
by specimen id.
|
share specimen![Pyrite, Marcasite from Rensselaer Quarry (Rensselaer Stone Company Quarry; Pleasant Ridge Quarry), Pleasant Ridge, Jasper Co., Indiana, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49369a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49369a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Sicily, Italy [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49489a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49489a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Huanzala Mine, Huallanca District, Dos de Mayo Province, Huánuco Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49591a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49591a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Huanzala Mine, Huallanca District, Dos de Mayo Province, Huánuco Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49933a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49933a.jpg)
![Tourmaline, Pyrite from Pederneira claim, São José da Safira, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49962a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49962a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49965a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49965a.jpg)
![Rhodochrosite, Pyrite from Oppu mine, Nishimeya-mura, Naka-Tsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture, Tohoku Region, Honshu Island, Japan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49979a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49979a.jpg)
![Pyrite from N'Chwaning II Mine, N'Chwaning Mines, Kuruman, Kalahari manganese fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/mdpics/MD-49992a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-49992a.jpg)
![Calcite, Quartz (Var: Amethyst), Pyrite from Rio Grande do Sul, South Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-51153a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-51153a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Huanzala Mine, Huallanca District, Dos de Mayo Province, Huánuco Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-51296a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-51296a.jpg)
![Cassiterite, Pyrite, Quartz from Hunan Province, China [db_pics/mdpics/MD-51437a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-51437a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Huanzala Mine, Huallanca District, Dos de Mayo Province, Huánuco Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-52107a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-52107a.jpg)
![Pyrite from Fuente del Moro, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain [db_pics/mdpics/MD-52211a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-52211a.jpg)
![Galena, Pyrite from Viburnum No. 27 mine, Crawford Co., Missouri, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-52225a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-52225a.jpg)
![Quartz, Pyrite from Huanzala Mine, Huallanca District, Dos de Mayo Province, Huánuco Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-52252a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-52252a.jpg)