TUC17A-48
Fluorite (phantom) with Pyrite, Dolomite
Shangbao Mine, Leiyang County, Hunan Province, China
Miniature, 5.4 x 2.9 x 2.3 cm
SOLD
A stunning, simple piece with excellent geometry and contrasts, this matrix plate of crystallized dolomite and quartz hosts a 2 cm crystal of sparkling purple fluorite, featuring a sharp 2 cm modified cuboctohedron with a sharp and deeper purple cubic crystal phantom within. One buys these first and foremost for the colorful and complexly modified fluorite crystals. The elegant phantoms of multiple colors in fluorite from Shangbao is one of the most classic and desired of modern Chinese minerals. Most of the good ones came out years ago, and each slightly different color and texture variety has a vintage, like wine, from a particular year. This pocket was found sometime after the industrial "closure" of the mine as an economic entity, when the miners were working reachable areas and pillar-robbing circa 2010-2013. For more on the mine, see our article here: http://www.chinacrystallinetreasures.com/e-book-shangbao-visit. I purchased this in China in 2016.