Covellite - bright iridescent crystals
stock #AX-30-013
Reynolds Mine/ Summitville Mine, Summitville District, Rio Grande County
Colorado,
United States
6.4 x 4.1 x 2.9 CM (cabinet)
price: $2200
Spring 23
Bright metallic crystals and plates of Covellite with top luster and flash. An American classic locality, these look very much like the older Sardinian crystals. Covellite is not a very rare sulphide, but any crystals are quite rare and larger ones like this are incredibly so. The bright blue, gold and purple hues are very hard to capture in a photograph, in person though they are really striking. We have had a few very nice Summitville Covellites over the past few years but this one has the brightest luster, richest color and best definition. A killer for the locality.
Chalcocite pseudo after Covellite - Classic USA
stock #13.1-375
Leonard Mine, Butte, Silver Bow County
Montana,
United States
3.4 x 3.3 x 2.2 CM (small miniature/ large thumbnail (toenail))
price: $2400
Fantastic form and a killer pseudomorph. This vintage Butte specimen shows perfectly the form of the original Covellite crystals which are almost fully replaced by Chalcocite. It looks like a tiny bit of Covellite may remain on the backside, but if so it is minor. This is an early specimen with excellent provenance, a tattered Roy Hopping (NYC Mineral dealer vintage 1898) label is included. This was also in the collection of Louis Zara (famed NYC collector, author and publisher of the Mineral Digest. His label is also included. The specimen is in exceptional condition, fully undamaged and attractive from almost any angle. Well-crystallized Covellite is remarkably rare worldwide with only two significant localities, both long closed. It is even less common to see a well-defined pseudomorph with sharp crystals like this.
Covellite - classic USA
stock #16.1-531
Summitville District, Rio Grande County
Colorado,
United States
5.8 x 4.2 x 2 CM (cabinet)
price: $275
Spring 2020
Bladed crystals of Covellite are clustered on edge in the classic form from Summitville, Colorado. On this piece the iridescent patina is similar to good specimens from Butte, but has the Colorado form. Crystals are distinct, well-separated and sharp, this is nearly pure Covellite just a few tiny bits of adhering matrix. Covellite is a somewhat common mineral but almost always massive. Crystallized Covellite is quite rare as there were only three locations that ever were good sources, at those sites it was still rare. Now all those mines are long gone.
Covellite with Pyrite
stock #0195-JM-1294
Leonard Mine, Butte, Silver Bow County
Montana,
United States
5.4 x 4.3 x 3.2 CM (cabinet)
price: $750
Several free standing crystals of Covellite on different sides of the Pyrite matrix are showing dark blue patina. From the remarkable collection of John Marshall who worked at the mine from 1950 to 51. John worked as a miner despite his Harvard education he enjoyed the direct contact and collecting during his lunch breaks. His hand painted mark is on the specimen #1294. The crystals are quite lustrous and in rather good but not perfect condition as is typical for this delicate mineral, far better than average. The Pyrite is in both small octahedrons and other more complex pyritohedrons. The Covellites of Butte have always been prized and are hard to find with any quality and often incredibly costly when they are exceptional A good value.
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