MINERAL SPECIMENS from the TUCSON 2010 shows

MINERAL SPECIMENS from the TUCSON 2010 shows

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TUC10IMAS-4 - Silver on Acanthite - $ 4500 SOLD
Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco
miniature, 4.3 x 4.1 x 2.1 cm

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Silver on Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco [db_pics/new2010/imiter4.jpg]

Silver on Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco [db_pics/new2010/imiter4.jpg]

Complexly turning, elegant wires with great lustre and twisty form, robust and yet bendable at the same time, look like they are shooting off this crystallized acanthite matrix. The complexity of the silver wires is actually more apparent in person - these are not "rounded" at all, and in fact the wires have long shallow grooves running from bottom to top. Superbly balanced, this is good from either side and is one of the finest miniatures for aesthetics, that I have seen in this material. From a 2008 find at the famous Imiter Mine, this is a stashed specimen picked from the original lots that came out at the time.

TUC10IMAS-2 - Silver on Acanthite - $ 5000 SOLD
Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco
small cabinet, 6.3 x 4.6 x 3.4 cm

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Silver on Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco [db_pics/new2010/imiter2.jpg]

Silver on Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco [db_pics/new2010/imiter2.jpg]

From a 2008 find at the famous Imiter Mine, this is a stashed specimen picked from the original lots that came out at the time. It is a wiry, elegant, balanced specimen with ewlongated wires - they seem frail but in fact are quite robust and do not wave in the wind.

TUC10IMAS-1 - Silver on Acanthite - $ 6500 SOLD
Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco
small cabinet, 7.3 x 4.2 x 3 cm

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Silver on Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco [db_pics/new2010/imiter1.jpg]

Silver on Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco [db_pics/new2010/imiter1.jpg]

From a 2008 find at the famous Imiter Mine, this is a stashed specimen picked from the original lots that came out at the time. We call this one the "haircut" for obvious reasons. This specimen features a thick nest of silver wires shooting up from the acanthite matrix, with small curlicues at the base of the silver. Extremely rich, this is DENSE material, almost as much as I have seen in one spot, for silver from this mine. It is very impressive in person and the contrast of extremely bright silver vs the black matrix is striking

TUC10-56 - Dufrenoysite - $ 750 SOLD
Lengenbach Quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Wallis (Valais), Switzerland
small cabinet, 7.3 x 5.7 x 3.2 cm

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From the TYPE LOCALITY for this rare species, here is a beautiful, extremely metallic and lustrous, 9-mm crystal in a protected cavity of sugary dolomite matrix. From the collection of a longtime Lengenbach collector, which was sold off recently.

TUC10-55 - Rutile (twinned) - $ 1500 SOLD
Stubach valley, Hohe Tauern Mts, Salzburg, Austria
small cabinet, 6.3 x 4.8 x 2.5 cm

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A well-sized matrix specimen hosting at its peak a sharply twinned, very geometric, rutile crystal. The scarce locality, and a superb twinning, make this a very fine European rutile specimen. Matrix pieces are unusual, especially in display quality! Comes with two old labels, shown; and is from an old German collection I am slowly dispersing.

TUC10-54 - Seligmannite and Wurtzite - $ 400 SOLD
Lengenbach Quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Wallis (Valais), Switzerland
small cabinet, 6.2 x 3.3 x 3.1 cm

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From the TYPE LOCALITY for this rare species, this specimen features a row of sharp, 1-2mm seligmannite crystals in a protected cavity of sugary dolomite matrix. Atop the cluster , or accenting at its base depending on view, is a large , flatlaying, 1 cm wurtzite crystal. A rich specimen overall, and with the wurtzite a lot more to look at than most seligmannites, as a display specimen. From the collection of a longtime Lengenbach collector, which was sold off recently.

TUC10-52 - Hematite - $ 750 SOLD
Fibbia, St. Gotthard, Switzerland
miniature, 4.6 x 3.0 x 2.6 cm

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A very sharp miniature with robust, fat hematite crystals clustered tightly together in the classic style often called a "Fibbia rose." However, I have seldom seen such a nice rose, balanced on a nicely trimmed miniature matrix like this. MUCH BETTER IN PERSON, this is an outstanding hematite miniature. From an old German collection. The cluster is nearly an inch across, with individual crystals to 1.4 cm or so.

TUC10-51 - Kainosite-(Y) - $ 300 SOLD
Amphibolite quarry, Urenkopf Mt., Haslach, Black Forest, Baden-W¸rttemberg, Germany
thumbnail, 0.8 x 0.6 x 0.4 cm

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A FACET-QUALITY, transparent, gem Kainosite crystal of a relatively large size for this species, from a classic locale. This crystal is gemmier in person, and really bright in lustre. It is from an old German collection being quietly dispersed. Although small, it is a superb example of the species in unusually fine quality.

TUC10-47 - Rathite - $ 750 SOLD
Lengenbach Quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Wallis (Valais), Switzerland
miniature, 4.3 x 3.3 x 2.9 cm

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Rathite from Lengenbach Quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Wallis (Valais), Switzerland [db_pics/new2010/tuc1047a.jpg]

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Rathite from Lengenbach Quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Wallis (Valais), Switzerland [db_pics/new2010/tuc1047b.jpg]

From the TYPE LOCALITY for this rare species, here is a protected cavity in sugary dolomite matrix hosting battleship-gray, elongated crystals of rathite to about 6mm. In association is pyrite and realgar. The lustre is dull, as is typical for the species, and indicative. From the collection of a longtime Lengenbach collector, which was sold off recently. SHARP CRYSTALS, in person!

TUC10-44 - Anhydrite - $ 2000 SOLD
St Gotthard tunnel, NEAT Construction site, Amsteg, Reuss Valley, Uri, Switzerland
miniature, 4.6 x 2.5 x 1.5 cm

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This specimen was one I acquired on a recent trip to Germany, from a collection. It was removed during the famous construction of the NEAT tunnel in St. Gotthard pass, and is a beautiful, totally gemmy and transparent, floater crystal cluster of anhydrite. This is similar to classic material first known in the 1800s, but seldom seen on the market. This tunnelling project hit a few pockets of large crystals, now highly treasured, of this rare Alpine classic. This particular crystal is large and robust, complete all around, and attractive due to its gemminess and the sparkling chlorite on some surfaces. In person, it has a pale lavender color, typical of the locality. Superb for size, aesthetics, and importance, I regard this as a highly significant Alpine specimen of some rarity

TUC10-40 - Daliranite (new species) with Orpiment - $ 2400 SOLD
Zareh Shuran Mine (Zarshuran Mine), Takab (Takan Tepe), West Azarbaijan Province, Iran
cabinet, 10.5 x 7.1 x 4.9 cm

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ex. Werner Paar

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Daliranite occurs as hair-like xls, in appearance similar to ludlockite. This beautiful new species is a new sulfosalt from the Zarshouran Au-As deposit, Iran, published in late 2009. Only a small number of these pieces were recovered and then studied. This is one of the largest extant specimens and is co-type material, which I obtained by exchange from the collection of Dr. Werner Paar of the University of Salzburg. Dr. Paar is lead author on the publication of the species (Mineralogical Magazine, Oct. 2009, vol. 73 #5.) Daliranite occurs as very rich orange-red crystals, eye visible but sub-mm in size, easily seen on this contrasting matrix specimen of quartz. It is associated with orpiment and other related species (he has identified both galkhaite and cinnabar as present on this piece). This specimen is a large, display-worthy piece that could EASILY be trimmed into 2 very fine but smaller display-quality samples, and perhaps yielding lesser reference specimens as well. The orpiment veins and crystals make this an attractive piece, overall. These specimens were found in 1998-2002 and studied only later, in Germany. Return trips by the authors in 2005 , to the dumps, were unsuccessful at finding more daliranite and it remains today a fairly rare species, thus. Originally, and erroneously, reported as ludlockite from Zarehehuran, Takap, Takht-e-Suleiman massif, Azerbaijan. Apparently, it was rather difficult to analyse and presented a fair challenge to the crystallographers. TYPE AND ONLY LOCALITY MATERIAL. COTYPE MATERIAL.

TUC102-14 - Peridot - $ 2000 SOLD
St John's Island (Zabargad), Red Sea, Egypt
thumbnail, 1.8 x 1.4 x 0.6 cm

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A sharp, very gemmy, crystal from the OLD classic locality for gem peridot. Literally the oldest, perhapsÖ.dating back to the time of Cleopatra and the Egyptian Empires, anyhow. This island mine is now submerged underwater and inaccessible, gone forever. Specimes can still be obtained in old collections from time to time, and their combination of form, termination style, and olive color mark them as Egyptian as opposed to the modern Pakistani material. This is a superb thumbnail, large and gemmy, and complete all around. Formerly in the often-displayed gem thumbnails collection of Jim and Shelly Houran.

TUC102-13 - Graphite - $ 950 SOLD
Lake Harbour, Baffin Island, Nunavut Territory, Canada
thumbnail, 3.2 x 1.7 x 1.5 cm

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ex. Marty Lewadny

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Crystallized graphite is actually fairly uncommon in nature, and large, fine, platy crystals like this in display quality - all the more so. This is a superb, world class thumbnail for the species, with sharp crystals to 1.5 cm in a jackstraw cluster. A fine piece from the collection of well-known specialist in thumbnails and Canadian pieces both, Marty Lewadny.

TUC102-12 - Tourmaline - $ 1500 SOLD
Morro Redondo mine, Coronel Murta, Jequitinhonha valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil
miniature, 3 x 1.5 x 1.4 cm

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One of a very few tourmalines I found in an old colleciton with this classic combination from the 1960s or 1970s: incredible BRILLIANT lustre, glassy surface, intense color zoning, and a gem nodule inside the base. These are absolutely STUNNING in person, like nothing in recent finds from tourmaline. Mark my words, when you see it in person, you won't think its as overpriced as it seems to be. I pried these out of a tourmaline collector who bought them in the early 1970s and has owned them ever since, in Germany. This large thumbnail/toenial/small miniature piece is just over 11 grams. It is stunning, the finest of the 3 here because of its thick, fat termination and stunning clarity in the blue zone. THESE HAVE IMPACT in person, hard to convey in photos.

TUC102-11 - Tourmaline - $ 950 SOLD
Morro Redondo mine, Coronel Murta, Jequitinhonha valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil
miniature, 3.7 x 1.3 x 1 cm

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One of a very few tourmalines I found in an old collection with this classic combination from the 1960s or 1970s: incredible BRILLIANT lustre, glassy surface, intense color zoning, and a gem nodule inside the base. These are absolutely STUNNING in person, like nothing in recent finds from tourmaline. Mark my words, when you see it in person, you won't think its as overpriced as it seems to be. I pried these out of a tourmaline collector who bought them in the early 1970s and has owned them ever since, in Germany. This crystal is taller than the others here, but a little less clear and gemmy in its body (although the blue tip is quite transparent!). 10 grams

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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com

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