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Mineral Specimens with Quartz
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Well, after many good years as one of the top stars in the mineral world, these beautiful rhodos from the Sweet Home seem to be running out. Because of the clearly dwindling supply, there are rumours of the mining coming to an end . They get more expensive every year, what is left from the miners. So if there was ever a time to get one, this might be it. This is a large and showy specimen that features dozens of gemmy pink-red rhombs to about 0.8 cm, interspersed with small quartz needles and tetrahedrite. It is not a major rhodo per se, in that the crystals are small, but it IS a super display piece with lots of color and crystals of very high quality overall, whose richness and quantity add appeal. 13 x 10 x 1.5 cm
4.0 x 3.5 x 3.0 cm. This is a very nice miniature of classic Halls Gap millerite, from a now-inaccessible location closed to further collecting visits (though I got there as a kid, before they closed it off). This specimen features a very rich nest of acicular millerite crystals in a quartz- lined geode, typical for the locality (when digging, you would look for geodes in slightly green, or nickel-rich, rock layers). Bill obtained this specimen from the Carlton Davis collection and I can say this is the first millerite specimen I ever saw, when Carl taught me about minerals in the mid-1980s. Ex. Bill Pinch and Carlton Davis Collections.
16.5 x 12.4 x 6.2 cm. An aesthetic, large cabinet Jalgaon, India combination specimen. Two striking, large clusters of lustrous, chocolaty heulandite fans dominate the top of this piece. Beautiful, pearlescent, salmon-pink stilbite blades and a 4.5 cm bowtie are richly and attractively scattered on the plate coated with very complimentary drusy, stalactitic chalcedony. The chocolate-colored heulandites are not that common and in combination with the pink stilbites and white chalcedony, this is truly a dramatic large specimen. Ex. Ed David Collection.
8.8 x 6.4 x 4.4 cm. An aesthetic, two-sided cluster of glassy and lustrous, doubly terminated smoky quartz crystals from recent finds in Namaqualand, South Africa. The longest crystal is 8.1 cm and interestingly, the larger crystals have more moderate-lustre termination faces. These fine South African smoky quartz crystals show both wonderful clarity and gorgeous form - long, slender and elegant and rival Swiss smoky quartz.
12.9 x 6.8 x 6.4 cm. A fine cabinet combination specimen from Bulochi, Pakistan. Two gemmy and lustrous, bright, mint-green fluorite octahedrons are partially hidden behind two lustrous, black to green tourmaline crystals to 4.7 cm. The fluorites and tourmalines are embedded in the side of a lustrous, lightly frosted, translucent, colorless, terminated quartz crystal. Adjacent to the quartz terminations are feldspar and broken tourmaline crystals.
4.8 x 2.9 x 2.4 cm. A fine and really complicated amethyst/smoky quartz scepter from the Pohndorf Mine of Montana and the Richard Hauck Collection. This is a complete all-around, complexly doubly terminated, floater specimen that is very nearly pristine. The gemmy, intense amethyst scepter has three faces that have stepped-growth. An interesting cluster of small, smokestack-like quartz crystals are set on one side of the amethyst scepter. The smoky end has multiple terminations and additional, smaller, fascinating quartz points. Older, seldom available material.
5.0 x 5.0 x 4.5 cm. A multitude of glassy amethyst points are beautifully and preferentially draped with contrasting calcite crystals on this fine specimen from recent finds at the Valenciana Mine at Guanajuato, Mexico. The two prominent amethysts really set this piece off. Ex. Consie Prince Collection.
6.8 x 5.6 x 3.0 cm. A 3.3 cm, striated, glassy and lustrous smoky quartz crystal is set on a plate of pearlescent, parallel-growth bands of echelon cleavelandite blades from recent finds in the Andes Mountains of Argentina.
4.9 x 4.0 x 2.7 cm. An elegant, complete all-around and pristine combination specimen from recent finds in the Shigar Valley of Pakistan. Three hexagonal, gemmy and lustrous, pastel-pink apatite crystals are set in front of a water-clear, glassy, quartz crystal. Lustrous, wine-red rutile needles are included in and protrude from both the apatite and quartz crystals.
5.0 x 2.1 x 1.6 cm. A superb combination specimen of the very rare beryllium-containing phosphate, zanazziite on a beautiful rose quartz crystal specimen from the Type Locality for zanazziite, the Lavra da Ilha pegmatite of Brazil. 15-20 yellowish-brown spheroidal clusters of zanazziite crystals are scattered on the vivid pink cluster of gemmy, stair-stepped rose quartz crystals. Specimens of this quality date to the 1960s or 1970s, even though zanazziite was not itself named until 1990 (these were previously thought to be the more common related species, roscherite).
5.4 x 4.3 x 4.0 cm. A very elegant, intergrown pair of gem, water-clear quartz crystals with striking terminations from the Morro Velho Gold Mine at Nova Lima, Brazil. The complete all-around and nearly pristine pair rest on a bit of quartz matrix.
3.7 x 3.2 x 1.7 cm. An exquisite and aesthetic, 2.7 cm long, elongated cluster of bright, crystalline gold with "rabbit ears" on top from the Eagle’s Nest Mine of California. Spinel-twins and flattened octahedrons are scattered amongst the microcrystalline gold, in particular in the "ears". I really like the presentation style of the gold rising off of the quartz matrix. Ex. Jaime Bird Collection.
7.5 x 5.1 x 3.5 cm. A fine, rich, old-time pyromorphite specimen from the Wheal Alfred of Cornwall. Lustrous, wet-look, partially gemmy, two-toned green, spindle-shaped prisms to 1.1 cm comprise the main 4.7 cm vug in the contrasting quartz matrix. This piece is so rich, even the contacted backside is richly covered with pyromorphite. This specimen almost certainly dates to the mid-to-late 1800s, when this mine was famous for some of the most beautiful pyromorphite in the world. Classic material and seldom available in this quality and richness. Ex. John Ydren Collection.
3.8 x 3.4 x 2.3 cm. A classic, old-time combination specimen from Cornwall, England. Lustrous, brassy, lightly iridescent chalcopyrite crystals to 1.1 cm with textbook, tetragonal form are richly and nicely scattered on the quartz matrix with charcoal-gray tetrahedrite crystals. Certainly over 100 years old in this quality. These are really sharp chalcopyrite crystals for Cornwall.
13.3 x 5.6 x 4.5 cm. A very rare, large smoky quartz crystal from the Pala Chief Mine of California. This complete-all-around cabinet-sized crystal is water-clear, but the pristine termination faces and some of the sides are lightly frosted. Two faces reveal a striking, interior phantom above the contacted base. This piece was collected in the 1960s and was in the Ed Swoboda Collection.
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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com
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Mineral Specimens by species; or
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share specimen![Rhodochrosite, Quartz, Tetrahedrite from Sweet Home Mine (Home Sweet Home Mine), Mount Bross, Alma District, Park Co., Colorado, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-23233a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-23233a.jpg)
![Millerite, Quartz from US 27 roadcut, Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., Kentucky, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232901a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232901a.jpg)
![Millerite, Quartz from US 27 roadcut, Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., Kentucky, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232901b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232901b.jpg)
![Heulandite-Ca, Stilbite-Ca, Quartz (Var: Chalcedony) from Jalgaon District, Maharashtra, India [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232955a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232955a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232961a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232961a.jpg)
![Fluorite, Tourmaline, Quartz from Bulochi (Balochi; Balche; Bulache; Bulachi; Drot Balachi), Astor valley (Astore valley), Astor District (Astore District), Northern Areas, Pakistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232965a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232965a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Amethyst), Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Pohndorf mine, Toll Mountain, Boulder Batholith, Jefferson Co., Montana, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232967a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232967a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Amethyst), Calcite from Valenciana Mine, Guanajuato, Mun. de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-232975a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-232975a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz), Albite (Var: Cleavelandite) from Papachacra, Belen Department, Catamarca, Argentina [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233130a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233130a.jpg)
![Apatite-(CaF), Quartz, Rutile from Shigar Valley, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233143a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233143a.jpg)
![Zanazziite, Quartz (Var: Rose Quartz) from Ilha claim, Taquaral, Itinga, Jequitinhonha valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233144a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233144a.jpg)
![Zanazziite, Quartz (Var: Rose Quartz) from Ilha claim, Taquaral, Itinga, Jequitinhonha valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233144b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233144b.jpg)
![Quartz from Morro Velho mine (incl. Mina Velha; Mina Grande), Nova Lima, Iron Quadrangle, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233146a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233146a.jpg)
![Gold, Quartz from Eagle's Nest Mine (Mystery Wind Mine), Placer Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233149a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233149a.jpg)
![Pyromorphite, Quartz from Wheal Alfred, Phillack, St Erth - Gwithian Area, Cornwall, England, UK [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233152a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233152a.jpg)
![Pyromorphite, Quartz from Wheal Alfred, Phillack, St Erth - Gwithian Area, Cornwall, England, UK [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233152b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233152b.jpg)
![Chalcopyrite, Tetrahedrite, Quartz from Herodsfoot Mine (North Herodsfoot Mine), Lanreath, Menheniot Area, Liskeard District, Cornwall, England, UK [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233173a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233173a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Pala Chief Mine (MS 6452; Chief Mine), Chief Mountain, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-233176a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-233176a.jpg)