Sparkling Cuprites from Milpillas

April 7, 2016 - Milpillas keeps stunning the collector community, even after the richer oxide zone at the top of the deposit was removed as part of the progressing mine-to-extinction plan for this deposit. Small pockets of minerals continue to be found here, including this "best yet found" pocket of cuprites from January 2016 which is by far the best the locality has produced (or any locale in this hemisphere barring a few sparse Bisbee specimens?!). These have a metallic red shimmer and an incredible luster that just makes them glow, with sunlight in particular or in any decent lighting. They "sparkle" more than any previous lot of Milpillas cuprites that came out at the contact layer with the now-gone oxide zone, over the last few years, and yet are priced lower than some lots of cuprite from here I have seen in the past. Perhaps because they were so deep down in the deposit, and protected from weathering and fluids by being in the solid orebody instead of the more porous oxide zones, they have a special luster and brilliant luster to them that I have never seen on previous Milpillas cuprites, or even on any USA cuprites from the more Northern part of the same copper belts. For those who have seen in person the intense, spectacular red cuprites that came out of the Red Dome Mine in Australia in the past, that is what these look like in person... Enjoy! This may be the last gasp from Milpillas, as they are deep into solid orebody with fewer and fewer pockets of anything interesting.

Note: These were found just before the Tucson show and we waited three months to post them out of due diligence to our customers to ensure more didn't come from the same zone and change pricing and representation.