China Under $100

A beautiful combination specimen of light green fluorite with calcite scalenohedrons.  Very stereotypically Chinese material from Hunan, I liked this one because it was relatively clean and the crystals were nearly complete on all sides, save a tiny contact on the back. 

A very good plumbogummite specimen from recent finds I the Gongcheng area.  This one has better color than most, and retains the clear hexagonal shape of the pyromorphite crystals that the plumbogummite is replacing.  There is still a little bit of pyromorphite remaining, this adds a beautiful degree of contrast between its green and the blue of the plumbogummite. 

A very pretty calcite form Daye, this piece has a complete lightly colored crystal sitting nicely on a matrix covered with smaller crystals. Complete all around.

A nice specimen of fluorite from Fujian Province These were found several years ago, and have cubic crystals with an interesting surface texture.  The crystals themselves have an interesting, slightly splotchy purple and blue color.

A nice example of hairy cyanotrichite from Guizhou. Years ago the only place you could really find this mineral from was the Grand Reef Mine at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but thanks to these finds in China, the species has become more accessible. 

A great babingtonite specimen from what is probably the world’s best occurrence of the species. This mine is best known for its prehnite/quartz combinations, but many years ago they also discovered these large babingonite crystals.  This rare calcium, iron bearing silicate is also known primarily from New England and India, but in my opinion these Chinese pieces are the best.

A nice plumbogummite specimen from recent finds in the Gongcheng area.  This one has numerous small, sharp hexagonal prisms that have completely pseudomorphed to plumbogummite. This localit produced many different habits of plumbogummite, for whatever reason it seems that the smaller crystals retained the sharpest form.  This is a good example of that material. 

Along with the more famous pyromorphite and the plumbogummite of the last several years, the lead deposits near Yangshuo have also produced cerussite. Most is very thin and ugly, nearly unsellable and difficult to ship—but occasionally they do find decent specimens. This update has two habits—this is somewhat older, I am not sure what causes the green staining, but the display face is covered with small, elongated yellow crystals. 

Along with the more famous pyromorphite and the plumbogummiteof the last several years, the lead deposits near Yangshuo have also produced cerussite. Most is very thin and ugly, nearly unsellable and difficult to ship—but occasionally they do find decent specimens. This update has two habits—this one is something of a “snowflake,” with a slight reddish orange color. 

A spiky cluster of calcite crystals from Daye, this one is not perfect (some missing points) but the overall shape is quite pleasant.  The crystals have iron oxide inclusions, giving a reddish-brown color. 

A nice example of what has come to be called “QR code” fluorite. These nearly colorless fluorites from Guizhou have a thin, dark purple overgrowth of later generation fluorite—the color tends to concentrate on the edges of surface features and of the crystal itself, giving a QR code appearance. This one is contacted on the back—actually that is what makes this particularly pleasant to look at, as this allows more light to pass through and makes the “QR code” pattern more easily visible. 

A pretty little example of lustrous calcite from the Tonglushan Mine, in the Wuhan suburb of Daye. This one has the nice, grading reddish-orange color that this discovery was notable for. Excellent luster!

A nice example of fluorite on quartz from Huanggang.  This one has a deep blue octahedron clinging to the side of a white quartz crystal. Interestingly, like most white quartz crystals from this locality, the outermost layer is white while the core (visible from the bottom) is more transparent.  Whatever the reason, the white outer layer gives a better contrast with the blue fluorite—and the smaller size of the crystal allows a bit more light to pass through and make the color a bit more easy to appreciate. 

A cute little sample of De’An fluorite.  The vast majority of these were large plates (I posted an update of those from the original find a few months ago) but this is the somewhat hard to find small version. Like all of these, the crystals were etched out from under a layer of quartz—a very dangerous process involving hydrofluoric acid. 

Not perfect, but so unusual I wanted to include it. This has a numerous small, nearly colorless fluorite crystals on a plate of calcite—what makes it special however are the very thin purple lines on the edges of the internal phantoms—most of the edges have 2 parallel lines, it gives a very pretty, delicate appearance to the crystals. In some places, the lines overlap giving a more unusual appearance still.  You have to look a bit closely, but when you do, the unique features of this small pocket become more apparent

A nice example of fluorite on quartz from Yaogangxian.  This one has a blue-green fluorite with purple phantoms, sitting near the top of a lustrous quartz crystal. 

A pretty calcite from Daye, just not perfect. This piece has a number of nearly colorless crystals, including a main twin perched near the top) sitting on a matrix of more pinkish orange calcite. 

As I noted, it's not perfect. If this were perfect, it would be 5 times the price. 

A very typical calcite from Daye, this one has a single scalenohedron sitting near the center of its matrix.  The iron oxide inclusions of the calcite contrast nicely with the grayish green material covering much of the matrix. Sawn side. 

A nice example of very transparent green fluorite, from finds made approximately 6 years ago at the Xiayang Mine in Fujian Province. Not perfect, but a good reference. 

A nice specimen of fluorite from Fujian Province These were found several years ago, and have cubic crystals with an interesting surface topography.  The crystals themselves have an interesting, slightly splotchy purple and blue color and are scattered on a nicely contrasting, white quartz matrix. Decently sized plate for the price.

A very cute “toenail” sized specimen of transparent smoky quartz on matrix. The crystals are all terminated and positioned quite nicely. 

A very cute thumbnail sized  calcite from Daye, this one has a well-isolated central crystal showing the reddish orange coloration and some of the transparency the this discovery was famous for. 

A nice little combo specimen, featuring a cluster of blady barite crystals, on a bit of fluorite. Not perfect, but still quite pretty. 

A ball-shaped cluster of calcite crystals from Daye.  The calcites have a red color as a result of minute iron oxide inclusions.  Some broken tips (mostly on the back) but still quite cute from the front. 

A nice example of purple creedite from Guizhou. While most creedites from here are brown or colorless, the more sought after purples do exist.  This one has a pair of flattened, radiating clusters on a bit of matrix.

A group of pyrite balls on almost botryoidal, grayish-purple fluorite, from the Fengjiashan Mine, in the Wuhan suburb of Daye.  These were found at least 10 years ago.

A nice reference sample of “pagoda calcite,” from the Tonglushan Mine, in the Wuhan suburb or Daye. The color comes from minute iron oxide inclusions.

A pretty example of blady siderite with calcite, from Bijie in China’s Guizhou Province.  Many of the siderite crystals have a dusting of pyrite, and the presence of the calcite gives a nice contrast. The calcite some have some bruising, but still quite pretty.

A nice reference sample of this very rare borate, from the best of species find at the Shijiangshan Mine a couple years ago.  Shijiangshan is one of the less well known mines in the Chifeng area, having been largely eclipsed by Huanggang and Yindu.  It has however produced at least a few “world’s bests,” particularly of oddball borate minerals.  There's a tiny bit olshanskyite clinging to the top left-- also huge for the species.

A pretty purple fluorite crystal fro Yaogangxian. Not perfect, but great color. 

An unusual example of twinned calcite from the Daye area, this sort of fishtail twin is particularly rare at this location, despite the overwhelming abundance of calcite from this mine.  The red color comes from minute iron oxide inclusions. 

A nice cluster of sharp siderite crystals, from Bijie in China’s Guizhou Province. Good luster!

A nice cluster of sharp siderite crystals, from Bijie in China’s Guizhou Province. This cluster is overgrown by a second carbonate—I think dolomite. 

A cluster of calcite crystals from Yunnan, unlike most which are just somewhat yellowish, this one has iron oxide inclusions which give it  rather saturated reddish-orange highlights. 

Although the abundance of examples from India’s Deccan plateau have made apophyllite the mineral equivalent of spam, the species is actually not that common from other places. This is a chunky crystal from the Fengjiashan Mine, in Daye.  This piece has a particularly good arrangement, with the main crystal sitting up nicely, and well exposed.

Another example of apophyllite from China. There are 4 main Chinese locations for this mineral—Huanggang, Fengjiashan, Dongwu Qi and a new one in Fujian, none are particularly abundant however. This is a nice sample from older finds, with a number of orangish crystals on quartz. 

Not a great aqua specimen, but a cool locality nonetheless, with some interesting bends. There is a pegmatite somewhere just outside the town of Nanjiang Zhen where a few local people collect large black almandine (I think) garnets and aquamarine prisms, this is reasonable close to the autunite locality.  Some of the aquas actually reach a decent size, but they are all heavily included like this.  I’ve also seen some columbite-tantalite from here.  Admittedly not the sexiest beryl out there, but there are people who collect unusual beryl localities, so…. I’m posting this. 

A reference example of white scheelite from a find made around 6 years ago at the Chashan Mine, in the Xianghualing Mining area near Chenzhou.  This mine is best known for its transparent fluorite, these were something of an oddity, particularly in this color.  Not perfect, but a good reference from this find.

A nice cluster of mostly purple (with some yellow) creedite from Guizhou. While most creedites from here are brown or colorless, the more sought after purples do exist.  This one has a pair of flattened, radiating clusters on a bit of matrix.

A nice example of this rare antimony oxide from China.  This sometimes occurs as a thin powdery coating on weathered stibnite crystals, and in recent years has been found as rather spectacular (up to 2 cm) crystals from a single find in Bolivia, but for china this is about as big as the crystals get.  This one has some fluffy looking acicular clusters on a piece of contrasting dark matrix, not perfect but a decent reference.

As someone who used to collect only pyromorphite, I always like to see example from unusual localities. This one comes from Fujian Province, the information I was given is that it came from somewhere near Xiamen.  There are also a number of vary tiny, largely incomplete wulfenite crystals near the bottom, which in itself corroborates what I was told about these not being from the more prolific Daoping/Yangshuo localities near Gongcheng

A nice reference example of what has come to be called “QR code” fluorite. These nearly colorless fluorites from Guizhou have a thin, dark purple overgrowth of later generation fluorite—the color tends to concentrate on the edges of surface features and of the crystal itself, giving a QR code appearance. This one is contacted on the back—actually that is what makes this particularly pleasant to look at, as this allows more light to pass through and makes the “QR code” pattern more easily visible.

As someone who used to collect only pyromorphite, I always like to see example from unusual localities. This one comes from Fujian Province, the information I was given is that it came from somewhere near Xiamen.  This one is kind of interesting, as it hosts almost botryoidal (but you can see small crystals, so it’s not) growths of the mineral.  

An interesting example of calcite from Daye. This one has sharp narrow scalenohedral phantoms, incased in a wider crystal.

Daye is probably one of the most (if not the most) prolific calcite locality in the world, with arguably more habits and random forms than any other mine or quarry. I think a lot of calcite collectors turn their noses up at this locality because 1) it is Chinese and 2) there has been so much from here and 3) until recently it hasn’t been particularly expensive… but there is just so much variation from here—certainly more than the Elmwood or various Midwestern quarry calcites that are relatively uniform from their respective locations.

A pretty example of red quartz with minor chalcopyrite, from Jiangxi Province.  This one has a particularly nice shape—there seem to be a pair of radiating clusters positioned on another smaller cluster. 

A nice thumbnail sized cluster of mostly purple creedite from Guizhou. While most creedites from here are brown or colorless, the more sought after purples do exist.  This one is a pair of clusters, nicely positioned relative to each other, with a nice lilac color.