LTM23-29
Bismuth
Piaotang Mine, Dayu Co., Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
Miniature, 5.4 x 4.3 x 1.2 cm
$2,250.00 Payment Plan Available
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Crystallized bismuth is rare in the natural world, for whatever reasons, compared to some other elements. Classic locations are crude crystals from Australian finds and sharp, small crystals from old finds in Germany. We have seen some small crystals, similar to German material, that came out of this mine in the 1990s or early 2000s (I have one in my Chinese collection). However, much to my own surprise having been in China on the ground since 2005 and not seeing any, this small mine has recently thrown out a few amazing pockets of crystallized bismuth! These are somewhere in-between in terms of the size, the German and Aussie pieces, with more sharpness than the large Australian equivalents usually had. This large miniature (technically a small cabinet size) is 64 grams, and has among the sharper crystal faces I have yet seen on these crystals of size. Many small fine crystals came out, sharp thumbnails of 1-2 cm. But, few enough were larger than an inch or so. This is larger than 2 inches across. The apex crystal is particularly fine. This came out in 2020, and we have not seen a new good pocket since.