Mineral Specimens with Spodumene

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MD-78861 - Spodumene (Var: Kunzite) - - Archived
Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil
small cabinet, 9 x 4 x 3 cm

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Spodumene (Var: Kunzite) from Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-78861a.jpg]

A pristine floater gem crystal of kunzite, complete and terminated on both ends and all around, with the typical jagged faces and tiered growth patterns. This sizeable crystal has a gorgeous gold and lilac glow from its flawless, pure-gem interior. GLASSY luster, with no dull areas! Weighs 171 grams. BETTER IN PERSON!!!! 9 x 4 x 3 cm

MD-83186 - Spodumene - - Archived
Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan
large cabinet, 20 x 5.8 x 2.2 cm

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Spodumene from Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-83186a.jpg]

Spodumene from Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-83186a.jpg]

This incredibly sharp spodumene crystal features an exaggerated A axis of growth, which is why it appears so glassy (and is i nfact MORE GLASSY in real life, in person). The color is a very deep green-yellow hue, and quite nice. The gemminess is almost 100% , the termination is SHARP like a textbook diagram of the species; and combined with the glassy lustre we end up with one of the most stunning spods of this color I have seen. Only a small percentile, or less than 1% probably, have such a good termination. Most spodumenes etch out at the tips. This one would rank as one of the very finest, for crysatllography, I have yet seen from these rich pegmatites. In person, displayed upright on a custom base of lucite, it is truly stunning. Lastly, it is a floater, terminated (basally) on the bottom as well! NO DAMAGE AND COMPLETE ALL AROUND! 20 x 5.8 x 2.2 cm

PALA-144 - Kunzite in matrix - SOLD
Anita Mine, Hiriart Hill, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA
large cabinet, 17 x 2 x 12.5 x 7.4 cm

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This is a spectacular display piece, museum sized and of high quality, showcasing a rare large kunzite IN MATRIX from the county. The undamaged crystal has a rich pink color, and is DOUBLY-terminated, complete at both ends. The crystal is not broken off from or repaired onto its matrix - rather, it was very , very carefully excavated to leave a stable anchorage behind it. It measures 18 x 5 x 2 cm in size and is complete. There is a thin crack in the middle, but the matrix stably holds it together. In person, it is more clearly seen how sharp the leftmost termination is, in particular. The color is excellent,particularly for the mine and the County in general. The style and the matrix together are uniquye - it is obviously not from the common places we see , Brazil or Afghanistan. And, as it is in matrix, this has to rank highly among all kunzite found here, from several localities, over the years since the early 1900s when it was found in San Diego and named in honor of the gemologist GF Kunz. Many people do not realize that, yes, San Diego was the type lcoale for kunzite! But, specimens of this magnitude do not come up often, and so its easy to forget that bit of history in light of the contemporary production from Afghanistan and Brazil. This is the rare county piece, though, that compares admirably to ANYTHING mother nature has produced elsewhere, AND comes from the USA. I rank it a major specimen for any collector of gem crystals or US classics in this size range. NOTE: this is from a private collection in Germamny which was broken up several years ago, and not from the Larson/PALA collection, though it fit well within this update to include it here.

PALA-305 - Spodumene var. Kunzite - SOLD
Beebe Hole Mine, Mt. Tule, Jacumba District, San Diego Co., California, USA
miniature, 4.5 x 4.0 x 2.0 cm

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A superb miniature from a spectacular, lucky, freak find in the late 1970s. Much was sold as facet rough but some specimens were retained by the finder for many years. I and others bought them in the late 1990s. This is an outstanding piece because it has a REAL TERMINATION that is sharp, uncommon for County, and it has intense color. Also uncommon for any mine hereabouts but the old Chief. The best small specimen I have seen from the Beebe Hole (and I have been to Loren Beebe's home to see the lot, mind you). This is one of the few County pieces that would fool most folks into believing it was from Afghanistan or Brazil at twice the price. As a US specimen, a sharp kunzite of this quality should command more of a level of interest and I rate it very highly on all counts.. Fool your friends...

PALA-309 - Spodumene var. Kunzite - $ 950
Pala Chief Mine, Pala, San Diego County, California, USA
small cabinet, 8.5 x 2.3 x 1.0 cm

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Spodumene var. Kunzite from Pala Chief Mine, Pala, San Diego County, California, USA [db_pics/new09mix/sd309a.jpg]

A classic old kunzite from one of the earliest locales in the County. 40 grams.

PALASD-01 - Kunzite - SOLD
Vanderberg Mine, Hiriart Mountain, Pala, San Diego County, California, USA
cabinet, 10.1 x 4.5 x 2.3 cm

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This is a breathaking visual piece but also happens to be a highly important kunzite specimen that is of 100% top-quality color and cutting quality, considered by many to be among the finest kunzite crystals recovered and surviving in specimen form from this famous mining district. At 147 grams, it has a high intrinsic cutting value for San Diego kunzite, still today valued at a premium compared to Brazilian material. Most have been cut over the years, particularly from the early days when the best use for kunzite was to cut it and sell as a fancy gem (Southern California was the world supply source for kunzite until Brazil hit in the 1960s!). A long history of the mine, dating back to 1902, can be read on MinDat (click here). This specimen was kept by mine owner Norm Dawson when he found it in a famous pocket of 12 kilos of highest-quality kunzite, in 1968 or so. It was bought from Dawson by Bill, before he passed away, and has never been for public sale til now. Bill told me he valued it at 15-20k, but it was never for sale individually (as with all else in this collection). This district, notably, is the TYPE LOCALITY for Kunzite, where it was identified as a new gemstone by George Frederick Kunz in 1903: Kunz, George Frederick (1903), On a new lilac-colored spodumene San Diego County, California: Am.Jour. Sci., 4th. series: 16: 264-267; ...(abstract): Science, new series: 18: 280 (1903).

PALASD-03 - Spodumene - $ 2500
Pala Chief Mine, Pala, San Diego County, California, USA
cabinet, 13.1 x 5.4 x 2.0 cm

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A VRY LARGE, rare spodumene crystal from the main dike of the Pala Chief Mine, accoridng to Bill dated sometime before 1960. It is large, complete, and has a pleasing faint green color in person. If you didn't knwo if was from THIS collection, I admit you would certainly at first think this is an Afghani specimen. But, instead, its an amazing piece from San Diego County, large and gemmy and quite reflective in person from its many facets.

PALASD-13 - Kunzite - SOLD
Vandenberg Mine, San Diego County, California, USA
cabinet, 10.6 x 3.7 x 1.1 cm

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A superb, very sharp and totally gemmy floater of kunzite, from San Diego. Crystals of this quality from modern workings are even more rare than those surviving from the turn of the 1900s era of mining here. This was probably collected in the 1970s and was obtained from the Norm Dawson estate (Bob was owner of the White Queen for many decades).

PALASD-15 - Kunzite - SOLD
San Pedro Mine, Pala, San Diego County, California, USA
cabinet, 16.2 x 5.0 x 2.3 cm

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A significant large kunzite from the county, from a very small mine in the Pala pegmatites. This crystal is complete, big, and gemmy. It has a uniquely pastel color to it, quite a bit lighter (but not colorles) than the traditional old Pala material. Comes with a custom base fo rdisplay, on which with good lighting you can see subtle hues of color gradient. Mined in the 1980s.

PALASD-16 - Kunzite - $ 2000
Elizabeth R Mine, San Diego County, California, USA
cabinet, 15.9 x 3.6 x 2.7 cm

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A BRILLIANTLY lustrous, utterly glassy kunzite crystal showing extreme elongation. It sparkles off the many subfacets you can see. In person, it is a nice medium pink color, and would be considered both fine and large for the mine to have such clarity and color both. Mined in the 1990s by Roland Reed, Mine owner.

PB7 - Spodumene var. triphane - SOLD
Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil
cabinet, 15.7 x 4.1 x 1.9 cm

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This facetable, lustrous, light yellow, gem crystal, displays beautiful etch pits over a large portion of the crystal that create innumerable reflections of light. It is large, but nearly entirely gem quality! This is just a lovely spodumene gem crystal which can be viewed in any direction. It weighs in at 261 gram. Such a finely-terminated spod from Brazil is unusual to get ahold of, and especially with a sharp termination. Most of them tend to form in pockets that have long since been hit by solutions that etch and dissolve the crystals, and the result is very few large spodumenes from Brazil have the sharp form we normally associate now with Afghani pieces. In person this is a daiquiri-green color like pastel ice cream, and is MUCH MORE LUSTROUS and GLASSY IN PERSON.

RWHIT-07 - Spodumene (Muscovite/Albite pseudo) - SOLD
Massachusetts, USA
cabinet, 12.5 x 7.6 x 6.8 cm

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This is a classic old Massachusetts specimen, of a kind found only seldom now in old museum collections and older personal collections. I am told that these sharp crystals are actually caught in altering (or altered fully to) a mix of muscovite and albite. This is a stark, aesthetic, display sized specimen with really nice geometry to it. While I do not know an exact locale on this , it is most likely, but not 100% sure from the Goshen Area, with references from Emerson (thanks to Jim Chenard for looking this up in the old books)

RWHIT-32 - Talc ps. Spodumene - SOLD
Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA
large cabinet, 17 x 8 x 6 cm

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Talc ps. Spodumene from Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine, USA [db_pics/new09mix/8-talcpseudospod.jpg]

I was shocked when I saw this! It is a very strange, attractive specimen of�something unusual. It actually turns out to be a sharp replacement of a complete, giant (for the locale) spodumene crystal by a talc-like mineral called cymatolite. Most people label these kinds of replacements of a hard gem crystal by a very soft pwdery substance as "talc" pseudomorphs, but actually it is distinct, i am told; and cymatolite is a mixture of muscovite and soft albite. Nevertheless, it FEELS like talc. A very strange , and starkly aesthetic, specimen.

SN135 - Kunzite - $ 250
Paprok, Nuristan, Afghanistan
thumbnail, 2.4 x 2.1 x 1.8 cm

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Kunzite from Paprok, Nuristan, Afghanistan [db_pics/pics/sn135a.jpg]

AN AMAZINGLY SHARP KUNZITE CRYSTAL!!!! SO SHARP, SO GLASSY, you'd think it was a selenite! He had this at $1000, FYI

SS31 - Spodumene (floater) - SOLD
Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil
small cabinet, 8.6 x 5.2 x 4.1 cm

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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com

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