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JC10185. Azurite, malachite pseudo
azurite. Milpillas mine, Santa Cruz Municipality, Sonora, Mexico.
6 x 8 x 9.3 cm. 569g. $750.00. A fine example of Milpillas
azurite/malachite. Several of the crystals are partially to completely
altered to malachite as pseudos after the azurite. The larger crystal
on the upper right is 5 cm in width, nice size for this locality.
Luster is quite bright. Good specimen. |
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JC10185. Closer view of the upper
right area with the 5 cm crystal. |
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JC10185. Close up view of the larger
crystal, which is partially altered to malachite while still having azurite
visible. |
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JC10185. Another view. |
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JC10185. Close up view of the larger
crystal, which is partially altered to malachite while still having azurite
visible. It is on the extreme left side in this photo. |
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JC10185. Close up view |
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JC10185. Another view. |
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JC10185. Close up view |
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JC10185. Close up view of the 5 cm
crystal, which is partially altered to malachite. |
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JC10026. Andradite.
Sinerechenskoe skarn occurrence, Primorsky Krai, Russia. 10 x 14
cm >1000g. $400.00. An outstanding specimen from this
premier Russian skarn. Brown to slightly reddish brown, brilliant
luster crystals completely cover the front face. Very little
damage. Very fine display specimen. |
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JC10026. Close up view. |
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JC10026. Close up view. |
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JC8438. Wulfenite. Erupcion
mine, Los Lamentos, Chihuahua, Mexico. 9 x 11 cm 936g.
$1,850.00. An excellent specimen of Wulfenite from the classic
Mexican location of the Erupcion Mine, Chihuahua. The Wulfenite crystals
display the quintessential tabular-blocky butterscotch crystals, so
characteristic of the location. The Wulfenite crystals measuring to 1.2cm
are highly lustrous. A fine, older specimen of Wulfenite from the mine. There
is some damage on the top back side, not visible from the front (display
side), which does not detract from the specimen. CABINET
specimen |
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JC8438. Another view. |
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JC8438. Another view. |
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JC8438. Another closer view. |
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JC9293. Azurite, malachite. Milpillas
mine, Cuitaca, Municipio de Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. 6 x 10 cm
329g. $750.00. Several brilliant blue, sharp crystals on
light colored matrix on this CABINET specimen. This one displays well
and is a classic piece from here. Sawn base. Another
one that looks better in person. |
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JC9293. Another view. |
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JC9293. Closer view. |
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JC9293. Another close up view. |
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JC9339. Azurite, malachite.
Liufengshan mine, Guichi district, Chizhou, Anhui, China. 11 x 18
cm 2.6 Lbs. $700.00. Seldom does the
Liufengshan mine produce larger specimens with larger azurite crystals on
it. This LARGE CABINET specimen is unusual in that it is both good
sized, with larger, brilliant azurite crystals. Lots of sparkle,
with very little damage for a large specimen. One edge, lower left, in
this photo shows some damage where it was removed from its place in the
mine. There are a few spheres of malachite present also, with the one
on the lower center having a bit of iron staining. This is
a very pretty specimen. |
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JC9339. Closer view of the
central area. |
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JC9339. Even closer view of same
area. |
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JC9826. Liddicoatite, quartz.
Ambarinakanga, Antsira, Madagascar. 7 x 7 x 9 cm
511g. $900.00. A 7 cm liddicoatite crystal is nestled into
a pale smoky quartz crystal group. A luscious specimen, with the
crystal nicely centered in the quartz. The crystal on the lower
front is broken off, as seen in the photo. The small crystal on the
left of the main crystal is likewise broken off. The main crystal is
pristine. Displays beautifully as seen in the photos.
Sawn back on the quartz and some non facing faces of the quartz smoothed..
Collected in July 2006 from a single pocket find at this occurrence.
Ambarinakanga is a large town, and this occurrence was somewhere near there,
although the exact locality is not on the label. |
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JC9826. Another view. |
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JC9826. Another view, with light
colored background. |
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JC9826. Another view. |
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JC9826. Another view. |
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JC9826. Another view. |
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JC9903. Vanadinite on barite. ACF
mine area, Mibladen mining district, Midelt, Khenifra province,
Meknes-Tafilalet region, Morocco. 8 x 13 cm 718g.
$398.00. A matrix of barite blades on this CABINET size specimen
is heavily encrusted with bright red, gemmy vanadinite crystals. No
obvious damage. This is a beautiful specimen that really stands out.
The vanadinite is literally solidly coating the barite with vanadinite on
all sides of the specimen, with the back side not as heavily coated with
vanadinite showing the barite blades to great advantage. |
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JC9903. Back side. |
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JC9903. Close up of one area on
the right side. |
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JC9903. Another view. |
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JC9904. Vanadinite on barite. ACF
mine area, Mibladen mining district, Midelt, Khenifra province,
Meknes-Tafilalet region, Morocco. 10 x 14 cm >1000g.
$325.00. A CABINET specimen with white blades of barite partially
coated with bright red, highly lustrous and gemmy, vanadinite crystals.
This one had a large chunk of matrix on the back which I sawed off to
lighten the weight. |
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JC9904. Close up view. |
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JC9904. Closer view. |
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JC9906. Vanadinite on
black manganese coated barite. ACF
mine area, Mibladen mining district, Midelt, Khenifra province,
Meknes-Tafilalet region, Morocco. 6 x 9 x 9 cm
805g. $800.00 Bright, dark red, gemmy vanadinites on black
manganese coated barite. The specimen is a knob of matrix, with the
barite/vanadinite wrapping around the knob as seen in the photos below.
Displays very well. Gorgeous specimen. |
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JC9906. Another view. |
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JC9906. Back side of the specimen. |
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JC9906. Back side.
Tilted slightly more forward to show the crystals on the top. |
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JC9915. Amethyst. Piedra Parada,
Mun. de Tatatila, Veracruz, Mexico. 17 x 21 cm >1000g.
(about 5 Lbs). $650.00. A LARGE CABINET specimen.
This one had a large amount of matrix attached, which had to be removed with
a saw, it weighed about 20 lbs before I trimmed it. The crystals are
darker than the usual material from here these days. Crystals are up
to about 4 cm or so in size. There is one broken crystal in the
central area, not obvious, otherwise in good shape. |
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JC9915. Another view. |
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JC9915. A closer view of bottom
half. |
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JC9915. Closer view of the top
half. |
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JC9915. Closer view of the central
left area. |
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JC9943. Epidote, albite,
orthoclase. Tormiq valley, Haramosh mountains, Skardu district,
Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. 8 x 8 x 8.5 cm
464g. $500.00. Talking to the dealer that had these, they apparently came from a single
pocket collected in late 2017. He had several of these at
Tucson, 2019, and I acquired all of them. He claimed these were the
last of the good pieces, although a few inferior specimens were still
around. None of the other Pakistani dealers I visited had any of
these. The matrix is orthoclase (or microcline?).
Suspended in the epidotes are scattered white crystals of albite for nice
contrast. The specimens consist of a dense mass of green epidote
sprays in an almost jackstraw like habit. Luster is quite bright.
The specimen is a mound of crystals, with crystals on all sides of the
piece, except for the base of feldspar. Much better in
person, these are classic, superior specimens from a one time find of
limited extent. There is a
small saw mark on the base where I cut off some excess and ugly matrix.
Some of these listed on the internet give the locality as Alchuri district,
Shigar Valley, Pakistan...so there is some confusion as to the actual
location. |
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JC9947. Epidote, albite,
orthoclase. Tormiq valley, Haramosh mountains, Skardu district,
Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. 9 x 10 x 14 cm >1000g.
$1,200.00. A LARGE CABINET specimen from a limited find at Tormiq. This is the best display angle for this piece, as there is a
little damage across the base where it was removed from the pocket.
There is an epidote crystal that has some yellowish siliceous material on
it, and it is the least obvious in this view. It could be
trimmed off.
Talking to the dealer that had these, they apparently came from a single
pocket collected in late 2017. He had several of these at
Tucson, 2019, and I acquired all of them. He claimed these were the
last of the good pieces, although a few inferior specimens were still
around. None of the other Pakistani dealers I visited had any of
these. The matrix is orthoclase (or microcline?).
Suspended in the epidotes are scattered white crystals of albite for nice
contrast. The specimens consist of a dense mass of green epidote
sprays in an almost jackstraw like habit. Luster is quite bright.
The specimen is a mound of crystals, with crystals on all sides of the
piece, except for the base of feldspar. Much better in
person, these are classic, superior specimens from a one time find of
limited extent. Some of these listed on the internet give
the locality as Alchuri district, Shigar Valley, Pakistan...so there is some
confusion as to the actual location. |
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JC9947. Another view. |
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JC9947. Another view. |
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JC9947. Another view. |
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JC9947. Close up view. |
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JC9947. Slightly different close
up view. |
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JC9210. Topaz, albite. Skardu
district, Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. 6.5 cm Tall x
4.5 cm wide x 5 cm deep. 243g. $500.00. A sharp,
single topaz crystal with satellite quartz crystals on one edge and a ball
of albite (cleavelandite) on the lower side at the base. Crystal is
gem clear in the top half or so, and transparent with veils and
(inclusions?) on the bottom half. There is a cleavage plane
about half way up on the crystal, and this can be seen in this photo.
The crystal has satiny termination faces and bright glassy faces on the
prism side. The photos were done on a rotation table, so all
sides of the crystal can be seen. Sawn base. |
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JC9210. Another view with the
quartz on the lower half and the albite ball on the lower right. |
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JC9210. Another view showing the
quartz on the lower half. |
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JC9210. Another view, with a
somewhat foreshortened appearance as I raised the camera to give a clear
shot of half the termination which is wedge shaped. |
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JC9210. Another view; the cleavage
plane is visible about halfway down on the crystal. |
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JC9210. Another view |
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JC9210. Another view; the cleavage
plane is visible about halfway down on the crystal. |
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JC9210. Another view |
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JC7571. Wulfenite. San Juan
Poniente vein, Level 6, Ojuela mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico. 7.5
x 11 cm 364g. $350.00 Large, yellow orange crystals
coating the matrix. Almost solid wulfenite. No damage.
Good piece. |
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JC7571. Another view. |
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