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6.1 x 5.2 x 5.0 cm. A very sharp, lustrous and translucent, dark smoky quartz crystal from recent finds in Argentina. Complete-all-around and pristine. Nicely accented by white microcline. A large, fine, highly representative smoky quartz from the find.
3.6 x 2.9 x 2.3 cm. A surreal and superbly etched, but completely terminated spessartine garnet from the recent Brazilian find. The lustre and clarity are superb, and are complimented by the lovely wine-red color. The gemminess and the stepped patterns on this particular piece are amazing. The little, 4 mm, doubly terminated, gem quartz crystal perched on one edge is a fine accent. A very high quality spessartine from this find. Weighs 32 grams.
13.3 x 5.5 x 4.3 cm. A striking, cabinet-sized, doubly terminated, light smoky quartz crystal from recent finds at the Pederneira Mine. This sharp, glassy crystal is totally water-clear and has fabulous accents. First and foremost is the 4.3 cm, terminated, gemmy, beautiful, teal-blue, indicolite tourmaline impaled in the side of the quartz. The projecting, snow-white feldspar with embedded indicolite is certainly eye-catching. Two fields of lavender, spherical lepidolite crystal clusters are a very nice final touch. This is an outstanding, essentially damage-free, complete all-around smoky quartz crystal with pristine terminations dramatically highlighted by tourmalines, feldspar and lepidolite.
6.4 x 3.2 x 2.6 cm. Gemmy and lustrous, tabular, green uvites are richly and aesthetically scattered on and in the glassy, doubly terminated quartz crystal. The sidecar quartz "stalk" appears to be terminated, as there are tiny magnesite rhombs embedded in the termination. Both quartz terminations are multiples and the adjacent uvites are fascinating. Complete-all-around, nearly pristine and nearly a floater, there are only a couple of small points of attachment. A really interesting and aesthetic combination piece from the mid-1990s finds at Brumado, Brazil. Old dealer stock of Ken Roberts, who brought most of this find to market.
9.8 x 7.0 x 8.8 cm. A spectacular, complete-all-around, amethyst specimen. Beautiful, glassy, translucent to transparent, purple crystals of amethyst to 5.5 cm in size stand upright on the striking matrix of an earlier generation of quartz crystals. The crystals really sparkle and are called "cactus quartz" for their form. The terminations are isolated, while the bodies have a prickly, "cactus" look with an overgrowth of smaller crystals. The yellow iron oxide inclusions are a nice accent. This is the true source for the amethystine quartz crystals (aka "cactus quartz" and "spirit quartz") erroneously marketed at first as being from the Magaliesberg Range.
9.4 x 8.3 x 6.3 cm. A striking and superb pseudomorph of drusy quartz after a huge danburite crystal from the famous mines at Charcas, Mexico. This complete-all-around and pristine pseudomorph is hollow. The smaller, casted pseudomorph on the back is a fine accent. The pseudomorph exhibits textbook, sharp danburite crystal form with the sharp chisel termination. An outstanding, large pseudomorph. Ex. Jaime Bird Collection, who purchased this piece at the 1998 Tucson Show.
5.5 x 4.0 x 1.7 cm. A beautiful specimen of deep cherry-red hubnerite crystals from the famous finds of the mid-1970s at the Huayllapon Mine, which remain to this day the standard for the species in terms of lustre and form as well as that deep cherry-red color (visible usually with strong backlighting, but here at least you can see hints of it even in normal lighting). Three pristine crystals to 1.7 cm have metallic lustre, and are superbly set atop a jackstraw cluster of gemmy quartz crystals. This is a superb hubnerite and quartz specimen.
3.1 x 2.7 x 2.7 cm. A superb specimen from the famous Tae Hwa Mine of South Korea. A 2.0 x 2.0 x 1.7 cm, very gemmy and lustrous, chocolate-brown scheelite crystal is beautifully complimented by booklets of flesh-colored, saddle dolomite crystals and small quartz and scheelite crystals. The sharp scheelite exhibits textbook pseudo-octahedral form. These scheelites were long considered the world’s finest, until recently surpassed by the new Chinese finds. Complete-all-around and very nearly pristine. Excellent white fluorescence.
5.6 x 3.1 x 2.1 cm. Superb, gemmy, yellow mimetite crystals to 7 mm are richly and attractively scattered on the sulfide matrix plate and are very nicely complimented by the multitude of sharp, oxide-stained quartz crystals on this uncommon and excellent combination piece from the Tsumeb Mine. The mimetites, while small, are way above average for this renowned locale. Well-crystallized quartz is relatively uncommon from Tsumeb and to have sharp crystals associated with gemmy mimetites, is indeed, exceptional and rare.
5.2 x 4.3 x 3.5 cm. This specimen was found about 5-6 months ago (2009), and is one of the more attractive Cassiterite association specimens I’ve seen. Bolivia has probably produced more tin than any other country in the world. The great tin mines at Viloco (sometimes called Araca) have produced some of the most magnificent Cassiterite specimens extant. This particular specimen is host of several fine, sharp, highly lustrous, black-brown cyclic twinned crystals measuring up to 0.8 cm across which are associated with very attractive Quartz crystals that actually have small Smoky Quartz "phantoms" in the center of the prisms.
7.4 x 6.2 x 4.3 cm. Monazite gets its name from the Greek word "monazein", which means "to be alone", in allusion to its isolated crystals and their rarity when first found. Monazite is usually found in granitic pegmatites, but these crystals are found in hydrothermal tin veins where is an absolute absence of Thorium (usually a trace element in Monazite). This is a remarkable, very well crystallized, very rare, specimen consisting of sharp, lustrous, translucent, orange-pink, twinned crystals on Monazite-(Ce) measuring up to 7 mm on Quartz crystals on matrix. These twins are some of the most distinct and impressive twinned Monazite crystals I have seen from Bolivia. The crystals actually perform a color change in different lighting ranging from orange-pink to a white/yellow depending upon the light source. This piece is from the same mine for which this material was discovered along the Contacto and San Jose veins in this mine and was first described by Sam Gordon and Mark Bandy. These crystals also do a color change from indoor lighting to sunlight (more pink indoors).
20.3 x 15.4 x 4.7 cm. Richard Kosnar mined the Sweet Home for a few years during the late 1970's and managed to collect some excellent Rhodochrosite specimens. This piece is from one of the last pockets that Rich opened before he was done at the mine. The Rhodochrosite crystals on this specimen have nice pink-red color with good gemminess and sharp faces. The largest Rhodochrosite measures 1.0 cm across. They are sitting atop a mix of black, lustrous Tetrahedrite and Quartz crystal matrix with minor associated Pyrite. This mine is now completely defunct, and will never produce these world class quality Rhodochrosite specimens again.
3.3 x 2.6 x 0.7 cm. This is a very impressive specimen featuring well crystallized, sharp dodecahedra and "ribbons" of Gold with minor Quartz. This specimen came to Brian Kosnar from the Leigh Price collection which he purchased it in 2002. This was one of only a handful of Gold specimens in Leigh's collection. The story of this piece came from Brian and his family directly from Leigh after he obtained the specimen. Originally this piece was purchased by Colorado mineral collector George Robertson from an old-time miner in Leadville in the 1970s. After George Robertson acquired the piece he sold it to Leigh Price sometime in the 1980s. Unfortunately, both Leigh and George have passed on, but I believe the story, and George was a very well respected and thorough collector in his day. There is a small handwritten label which accompanies the specimen, but that is all the pedigree I have. There is a number "101" glued to the back of the piece, but I don't know how it pertains to the pedigree. Overall, the quality is very impressive, and this is actually a "Dana Locality" which makes it even more desirable and prestigious. Ex. Leigh Price and George Robertson Collections.
6.0 x 5.6 x 3.7 cm. Long before the California pegmatites had been discovered, the pegmatites of central Connecticut produced the best beryls and tourmalines in the U.S. This matrix beryl var. morganite, is doubly terminated, translucent, and a pastel pink color. The morganite measures 5.0 cm in length. Though not gemmy, this is a significant specimen. Ex. George Elling Collection.
3.9 x 3.7 x 1.7 cm. This beautiful quartz miniature is unique in my experience, a triplet cluster of crisscrossing crystals. The largest is 3.5 cm, and doubly terminated though with a slight contact on one back tip. It is unusual, for the location and just for a quartz cluster in general. These phantomed scepters are valued highly, in part because they are so uncommon and so hard to extract as well - both from the ground and from the collectors as they are treasured by the local collectors and tend to stay in the area. Collected by Bob Whitmore in 2000. Except for the slight contact on the rear of one outside tip, this is a floater otherwise. Ex. Robert Whitmore Collection. All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The ArkenstonePowered by http://mineralwebsites.comMineral Specimens by species; or by specimen id. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
share specimen![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Papachacra, Belen Department, Catamarca, Argentina [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250253a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250253a.jpg)
![Spessartine, Quartz from Navegadora Mine (Navegador Mine; Orozimbo Mine), Penha do Norte, Conselheiro Pena, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250258a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250258a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz), Tourmaline (Var: Indicolite) from Pederneira claim, São José da Safira, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250260a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250260a.jpg)
![Uvite, Quartz from Serra das Éguas, Brumado (Bom Jesus dos Meiras), Bahia, Northeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250261a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250261a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Amethyst), Quartz from Boekenhoutshoek area (Boekenhouthoek), Mkobola district, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250263a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250263a.jpg)
![Quartz, Danburite from Charcas, Mun. de Charcas, San Luis PotosÃ, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250291a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250291a.jpg)
![Hübnerite, Quartz from Huayllapon Mine, Pasto Bueno District, Pallasca Province, Ancash Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250292a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250292a.jpg)
![Hübnerite, Quartz from Huayllapon Mine, Pasto Bueno District, Pallasca Province, Ancash Department, Peru [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250292b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250292b.jpg)
![Scheelite, Dolomite, Quartz from Tae Hwa Mine (Taehwa Mine; Dae Hwa Mine; Taewha Mine; Tong Wha Mine; Tae Wha Mine), Neungam-ri (Neung Am-ri; Noungam-ri), Angseong-myeon, Chungju (Chung Won Kum; Chung-ju), Chungch [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250299a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250299a.jpg)
![Scheelite, Dolomite, Quartz from Tae Hwa Mine (Taehwa Mine; Dae Hwa Mine; Taewha Mine; Tong Wha Mine; Tae Wha Mine), Neungam-ri (Neung Am-ri; Noungam-ri), Angseong-myeon, Chungju (Chung Won Kum; Chung-ju), Chungch [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250299b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250299b.jpg)
![Mimetite, Quartz from Tsumeb Mine (Tsumcorp Mine), Tsumeb, Otjikoto (Oshikoto) Region, Namibia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250310a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250310a.jpg)
![Mimetite, Quartz from Tsumeb Mine (Tsumcorp Mine), Tsumeb, Otjikoto (Oshikoto) Region, Namibia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250310b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250310b.jpg)
![Cassiterite, Quartz from Viloco Mine (Araca mine), Loayza Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250314a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250314a.jpg)
![Cassiterite, Quartz from Viloco Mine (Araca mine), Loayza Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250314b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250314b.jpg)
![Monazite-(Ce), Quartz from Siglo Veinte Mine (Siglo XX Mine; Llallagua Mine; Catavi), Llallagua, Rafael Bustillo Province, Potosà Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250327a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250327a.jpg)
![Monazite-(Ce), Quartz from Siglo Veinte Mine (Siglo XX Mine; Llallagua Mine; Catavi), Llallagua, Rafael Bustillo Province, Potosà Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250327b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250327b.jpg)
![Monazite-(Ce), Quartz from Siglo Veinte Mine (Siglo XX Mine; Llallagua Mine; Catavi), Llallagua, Rafael Bustillo Province, Potosà Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250327c.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250327c.jpg)
![Rhodochrosite, Tetrahedrite, Quartz, Pyrite from Sweet Home Mine (Home Sweet Home Mine), Mount Bross, Alma District, Park Co., Colorado, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250345a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250345a.jpg)
![Rhodochrosite, Tetrahedrite, Quartz, Pyrite from Sweet Home Mine (Home Sweet Home Mine), Mount Bross, Alma District, Park Co., Colorado, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250345b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250345b.jpg)
![Gold, Quartz from Lillian Mines, Printer Boy Hill, Leadville, Leadville District, Lake Co., Colorado, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250348a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250348a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Morganite), Quartz, Muscovite from Gillette Quarry, Haddam Neck, Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250925a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250925a.jpg)
![Quartz from Treasure Mountain Diamond mine, Little Falls, Herkimer Co., New York, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-250931a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-250931a.jpg)