Mimetite-fine gemmy crystals
stock #13.1-371
Pingtouling Mine, Liannan, Sanjiang
Guangdong Province,
China
5 x 3.1 x2.5 CM (miniature)
price: $375
A fine and colorful piece from the great but short lived location at Pingtouling. Many collectors rank these Mimetites in the running for best of specie. Glassy sharp and clean of damage this displays well, has the most desirable orange color and is quite a good value.
An amazingly long, curved chain growth of Pyromorphite that is a fine 360 degree display piece. Sharp, lustrous and in great condition this is a great example of this rare and esthetic habit. From finds at Daoping in 2008 this type of Pyro was a big surprise in the mineral world, the habit is uncommon and never before in such large crystals. Every side shows complex striations and the piece is a floater , it has crystallized on every side. Already a classic locality, this mine has reset the world standard for fine Pyromorphite.
Fluorite (dodecahedral) on Quartz
stock #6.2-515
Xianghualing Mine, Linwu County, Chenzhou Pref.
Hunan Province,
China
8.5 x 5.5 x 3.2 CM (cabinet)
price: $140
An older (2008) piece from a find of unusual Fluorite at Xinghualing. A cluster of stacked, mostly oriented crystals, translucent to transparent and with nice contrast to the Quartz. The back of the specimen is contacted but the front displays well from several angles. By naked eye this looks very clean damage-wise but some edge roughness is found at 10X magnification.
Rhodochrosite on Quartz with Sphalerite etc
stock #AX-15-073
Lamo Cu-Zn Deposit, Dachang, Nandan, Hechi Prefecture
Guangxi Province,
China
10 x 8.7 x 7.3 CM (cabinet)
price: $485
A very esthetic specimen ex. Shields Flynn Collection that presents several disk-like sharp Rhodo crystals (up to 2.6 CM) nicely perched on large quartz prisms. This was from the one time find at Lamo Mine (Quanxi, China)in 2003. Very good contrast and color, the Rhodos are in fine condition as are most of the quartz crystals (only one has some tip bruising). Later finds some 20 KM from this mine produced fine Rhodochrosite which became quite famous but none with this look. This piece was sourced by Bert Ottens and is excellent for this find.
Cassiterite
stock #4.2-269
Mt. Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Pref.
Sichuan Province,
China
8 x 7.4 x 5.9 CM (cabinet)
price: $800
A well placed cluster of lustrous Cassiterite perched on the classic Muscovite matrix of Mt. Xuebaoding. Very nice presentation and contrast, the Cassiterite is just over 4 CM across and in very good condition. By naked eye there is no damage but good magnification shows slight edge chips that are not at all distracting on display.
Fluorite on Quartz
stock #7-AE-592
Dean Mine
Jiangxi Province,
China
11.4 x 10 cm (cabinet)
price: $390
Two deep purple cubo-octahedrons etched from the Quartz matrix are well placed and displayed with great form and contrast. In fine condition with no damage, however the fluorites do show some stress cracks as do almost all of these. Some color changes can be noted in this fluorite in different light sources.
If you know or collect Yaogangxian, you can see this is a VERY fine Scheelite multi-specie piece! In excellent undamaged condition, this is densely packed with bright, lustrous and transparent/translucent Scheelites with honey brown color. This quality and esthetic is a rare for the locality. We selected this piece at the mine in 2006. There is nothing like this on the market now. Yaogangxian is the most famous and significant locality in China for collectors. Good Scheelite was always rare from there, this one is exceptional and the mine is now closed.
Realgar in and on Calcite
stock #4.2-107
Shimen (Jiepiayu) Mine, Shimen County, Changde Prefecture
Hunan Province,
China
7 x 5.5 x 4.8 CM (cabinet)
price: $145
Spring 2014
A very attractive bright specimen that has become sort of a modern classic from the Realgar Mine at Shimen. The Calcite is milky-white to clear-yellow and glassy, while the Realgar is brilliant red. This is clearly seen inside the Calcites and extending to the surface in sharp form. In good condition with some bruising that is not distracting, specimen like this one are a great value for building collections with attractive pieces that are fine yet affordable.
