|
|
||||
|
|
||||
December 2009 Update
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-485 Fluorite with Sphalerite Denton Mine, Harden Co., Illinois. Ex Jay Walter Collection. Beautiful light purple cubic crystals overgrowing light blue cubes. Fluorites to 2.8 cm each. Some edge contact, most of which is regrown surfaces. The psalteries are nicely translucent and reach .8 cm each. They are mostly on the back and edge of the specimen so do not show (except a couple of tiny ones) in a frontal view. One cube has a small corner cleave but overall condition is very good. 6.5 x 5 x 4 cm overall. 350$
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-486 Galena with Sphalerite Tri- State District, Ottawa Co., Oklahoma. Ex Jim Turek Collection. I’ve owned dozens of these specimens with this “cityscape” like stepped growth in various sizes but believe this one to be the finest I’ve owned and certainly the finest miniature I’ve ever seen. The piece measures 6.4 x 5.7 x 4.2 cm. The primary cube is 3 cm on edge and every face, all of which are exposed to some degree, have intricate facial modifications by octahedral overgrowths. The limestone matrix plate has small sphalerite crystals to 1.2 cm each on all sides and displays all the crystals up high off of it. The specimen is a floater with no points of attachment and zero damage. This is the type of specimen we could see on the cover of Min. Record and never question why. This specimen is far, far better in person and I have done a poor job capturing its aesthetics here. 900$
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-487 Fluorite on Sphalerite Carthage, Tennessee. This 6.7 x 4 cm plate of sphalerite sports numerous small cubes and one nicer one measuring 1.7 cm on edge. This is a very aesthetic specimen as so many from this locale are. The faces on the cubes are slightly concave, a bit unusual, and are very translucent…more like transparent. The surfaces are slightly etched yet still possess the highest of luster. An extremely desirable miniature which the likes of are only becoming more and more difficult to find. 450$
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-488 Sphalerite Carthage, Tennessee. A fine dome of transparent crystals to almost 2 cm each. The cluster is 7 x 5.5 x 4.5 cm overall. It displays beautifully from every side. It is entirely damage free and has as high a luster as one could expect for any specimen. The sphaletites from this locale do not get better looking than this one. Plenty of flash! 400$
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
OKI-489 Quartz Irledell Co., North Carolina. Ex. Dr. Steve Chamberlain Collection. What a wonderful miniature! 5 x 3.2 x 2.3 cm specimen composed of a gemmy smoky quartz crystal on a slightly smoky quartz crystal. Everything is skeletal and the cap crystal has some spectacular clay inclusions. The smoky crystal has minor micro abrasions on one small edge but is otherwise clean. A sweet little treasure for the quartz collector. 600$
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-490 Zircon on Quartz and Aegirine Zomba, Malawi, Africa. When these big aegirines showed up on the market a decade ago they had no rivals (except perhaps the fine ones from Mt. St-Hilaire) but the zircon crystals were never common. This fine miniature measures 6 x 3.5 x 2.4 cm overall. The zircons are small but there are hundreds coating at least some portion of all the primary aegirines surface. A couple of small quartz are missing from the back but otherwise damage free. 300$
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-491 Scheelite on Muscovite Xue Bao Diang Mountain, Pingwu, Chendgdu, Sichuan Prov., China. A fine, large example of what should play out to be a modern day classic for this fabulous mineral. The crystals seen here is translucent, transparent in areas and measures over 4 cm on edge, The corners are complex with multiple terminations and the luster is high. The matrix has been sawn and the muscovite are in excellent shape (not flattened) in any areas. The piece has no damage what so ever. The specimen displays wonderfully and as is the norm, the crystals fluoresces a bright blue. 11.5 x 10 cm somewhat triangular shaped piece which averages 4 cm thick. Back side, top edge of the crystal is also crystallized showing the crystal standing up off the matrix, even from a back view. These are becoming tough to get….if you’ve ever wanted one of these, I recommend moving on it. These have been increasing in price steadily over the past few years. Outstanding example in every way. 425$
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
OKI-493 Quartz and Diopside after Wollastonite Rose Road Wollastonite Occurrence, Pitcairn, New York. Until our 2009 field collecting efforts there were only approximately a dozen of these pseudomorphs known to exist, all in the possession of Dr. Steven Chamberlain of Manlius, New York. They were recovered loose from the soil at the southern most exposure of the dig site in the 1970s. During 2009 an extensive excavation of the rock below this area was conducted and specimens similar to those found weathered free were discovered in an enormous massive calcite filled fracture. Thirty days of mining, in which we processed approximately 2,000 cubic feet of calcite, produced several flats of fine specimens. So, obviously, they were not common. They present themselves as light to dark green, euhedral crystals, often still in massive a calcite matrix. Normally the color is a consistent shade and not mottled. The luster is usually quite high and exceptional for pseudomorphs. The surface texture ranges from grainy to glassy and small attached crystals of blue fluorapatite are sometimes present on specimens removed from the calcite. Naturally weathered free crystals never seem to have these accessory fluorapatite crystals. The wollastonite pseudomorphs occasionally are found in association with diopside and albite and are rarely found on the marble host rock as matrix specimens. Due to their rarity I will only be offering a few of these for sale. Research on these unusual specimens is being conducted and a follow-up publication is being prepared.
This 4.3 cm long example is an excellent representative of what we found. It is single terminated, a very green color (which implies that it is almost all quartz and very little diopside in composition), not excessively pitted and very well formed compared to most. A couple of patches of calcite, otherwise accessory mineral free. Unusually high luster and odd surface growth patterning. Nice and exceedingly unusual mineralogical specimen. 145$
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||
OKI-494 Quartz and Diopside after Wollastonite Rose Road Wollastonite Occurrence, Pitcairn, New York. Until our 2009 field collecting efforts there were only approximately a dozen of these pseudomorphs known to exist, all in the possession of Dr. Steven Chamberlain of Manlius, New York. They were recovered loose from the soil at the southern most exposure of the dig site in the 1970s. During 2009 an extensive excavation of the rock below this area was conducted and specimens similar to those found weathered free were discovered in an enormous massive calcite filled fracture. Thirty days of mining, in which we processed approximately 2,000 cubic feet of calcite, produced several flats of fine specimens. So, obviously, they were not common. They present themselves as light to dark green, euhedral crystals, often still in massive a calcite matrix. Normally the color is a consistent shade and not mottled. The luster is usually quite high and exceptional for pseudomorphs. The surface texture ranges from grainy to glassy and small attached crystals of blue fluorapatite are sometimes present on specimens removed from the calcite. Naturally weathered free crystals never seem to have these accessory fluorapatite crystals. The wollastonite pseudomorphs occasionally are found in association with diopside and albite and are rarely found on the marble host rock as matrix specimens. Due to their rarity I will only be offering a few of these for sale. Research on these unusual specimens is being conducted and a follow-up publication is being prepared.
This 2.4 cm long crystal is an excellent representative of what we found. It is double terminated, a medium green color, not excessively pitted and very well formed compared to most. It remains in a matrix of massive calcite which allows it to sit nicely for display. Overall size is 4 x 3.4 x 3.2 cm. There is what looks like a small contact on one exposed edge of crystal but this could very well just be a poorly formed face which is common with the wollastonite found at this locale. Nice and exceedingly unusual mineralogical specimen. 180$
