AKS1 Barite on Calcite

Elk Creek, Meade Co., South Dakota, United States

8.5x 7.5x 6.0 cm             

$2500

This specimen has a freestanding crystal, perfectly terminated and damage free.  Some of the calcite crystals on the matrix have been sheared, but the main barite is intact.  The crystal is perfectly centered, and gemmy.

There is a collection number glued to the bottom, attributed to Willard Roberts, the man responsible for bringing these specimens out in the 1950's.  In later years, his son would work the area, and in the late 90's Collector's Edge also recovered specimens from Elk Creek.  This specimen predates all that activity, and is a stunning example from this classic American locality.

AKS2 Rhodochrosite 

Uchucchacua Mine, Lima Dept., Oyon Prov., Peru

8.5x 6.0x 3.3 cm             

$3000

A beautiful rhodochrosite specimen, with a large, terminated, and very gemmy rhodochrosite crystal sitting at the center of a manganese oxide coated matrix.

This crystal is considerably larger than the average from this mine, giving it a depth of color that contrasts nicely against the black matrix.

 In my opinion, these Peruvian specimens are an exceptional value for rhodochrosite.  Few other mines have produced such deeply colored gemmy crystals, and the prices have tended to increase greatly in the years following the finds (just think of the pieces from Hotazel).

AKS3 Cobaltian Calcite 

Dikuluwe Mine, Kolwezi, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo

4.7x 2.7x 2.9 cm             

A bright pink cobaltian calcite crystal from the D.R. Congo.  These things were found in the 1980's, and today are rarely seen on the market.  They are however, among the most highly sought after of Congolese minerals-- and that is saying a lot, given the vast quantities of specimens that have come from that country.

This crystal is complete, and damage free.  There is a thin layer of matrix on parts of the crystal's bottom face that shows that this is an intact crystal, and not just a cleave.

This is a beautiful crystal, frosted on some surfaces, and lustrous on others.  It will certainly stand out in a display cabinet.

AKS4 Rhodochrosite 

N'chwaning Mine, near Kuruman, Cape Province, South Africa

7.5x 2.8x 3.6 cm             

$2300

A classic rhodochrosite from N'chwanning.  This is a rather unusual habit for the mine, composed of compressed scalenohedrons.  This habit was encountered in the early 1980's. 

Specimens displaying this habit are usually sawed at the base to improve translucency and to make them more displayable.  This one has not been sawed, and as a result is somewhat wedge-shaped.  When viewed under magnification, small cleaves are visible on the terminations of the crystals, but it is exactly as shown in the photos.

AKS5 Pyromorphite 

Friedrichsegen Mine, Bad Ems, Nassau, Germany

8.4x 5.7x 5.9 cm             

$900

A classic, light brown pyromorphite from the Freidrichsegen Mine, that closed is the first half of the 20th century.  Pyromorphites from Bad Ems among the most sought after in the world, and given their age, they are many times harder to obtain than the modern Chinese pieces, or even the Les Farges or Bunker Hill pieces that were recovered in the 70's and 80's.

This specimen appears to be a nearly solid mass of crystals, growing in various directions.

AKS6 Pyromorphite 

Friedrichsegen Mine, Bad Ems, Nassau, Germany

6.9x 6.6x 3.1 cm             

$450

A second Bad Ems pyromorphite from a mine that closed in the early 1900's.  This one has numerous brown crystals on matrix.  There are a few blemishes, but given the age of the piece that is to be expected.

AKS7 Pyromorphite 

Les Farges, Ussel, Correze, France

9.9x 7.1x 2.6 cm             

$400

A cabinet specimen of pyromorphite from the major pyromorphite find of the 1970's.  Pyromorphites from Les Farges are among the most sought after today, predating the current wave of Chinese specimens by almost two decades.  This specimen is particularly rich, and only a couple of the crystals show any damage.

AKS8 Fluorite on Calcite, Quartz

Mahodari Quarry, Near Nasik, Maharashtra Prov., India
10.5x 8.7x 5.3 cm

$400

Although Indian specimens are everywhere these days, some minerals from the country are still rather uncommon.

Botryoidal red fluorite is one of those "harder to get" minerals, and this is a striking example, with numerous red fluorite balls on a large calcite crystal, which itself is in a quartz-lined vug.

As is typical of virtually all Indian minerals, the specimen has been carved out of hard quarry rock, and the traces of this are left behind in the horizontal lines visible at the leftmost part of the specimen.

Please note that when viewed from straight on, the part of the geode that curves upwards (see bottom image) encroaches on the display face, so it must be displayed at a slight angle.

AKS9 Wulfenite

Kurukang Mountains, Near Urumqi Xinjiang Region, Northern China
19.4x 11.1x 4.1 cm

$3500

A very large specimen from the one time Chinese find made a few years ago. 

While the color on this piece is not the brightest red from the find, it more than compensates with its size, lack of damage, and the size of the crystals.  Virtually all of these specimens have significant damage, but this one is surprisingly clean, probably because the crystals seem to be somewhat thicker. Also unlike many other pieces, this one has a hard rock matrix, not the gossan usually encountered

This find represents what is probably the most significant find of wulfenite since Wayne Thompson's San Francisco Mine find in the mid-90's.

AKS10 Wulfenite

Kurukang Mountains, Near Urumqi Xinjiang Region, Northern China

17.5x 8.7x 6.4 cm

$1800

A bright red specimen from the one time Chinese find made a few years ago.  The color on this piece is comparable to Red Cloud, and this find represents what is probably the most significant find of wulfenite in the last since Wayne Thompson's San Francisco Mine find in the mid-90's.

There is damage to the peripheral crystals, which is pretty much standard for these wulfenites, but is otherwise exactly as it appears in the photographs (actually, the color is somewhat better)

As a side note, Urumqi has recently been the site of tensions between ethnic Uighurs and the Han Chinese that the have moved into the region.

AKS11 Wulfenite

Kurukang Mountains, Near Urumqi Xinjiang Region, Northern China

7.6x 4.0x 3.5 cm

$375

A bright red specimen from the one time Chinese find made a few years ago.  The color on this piece is comparable to Red Cloud, and this find represents what is probably the most significant find of wulfenite in the last since Wayne Thompson's San Francisco Mine find in the mid-90's.

This specimen is actually a section of a crystallized pipe that would have extended further in both directions.  There is damage to the peripheral crystals, which is pretty much standard for these wulfenites, but is otherwise exactly as it appears in the photographs.

As a side note, Urumqi has recently been the site of tensions between ethnic Uighurs and the Han Chinese that the have moved in to the region.

AKS12 Thorite 

Kempf Prospect., Cheddar, Ontario, Canada

9.4x 6.7x6.3 cm             

$2000

 In the world of radioactive minerals, thorite is an ugly duckling.  This thorium silicate is rarely encountered for sale, and when specimens do make it to the market, they tend to be lone crystals, on the order of 2 cm.

When I saw this piece, I purchased it immediately.  For a usually ugly species, this piece is unusually aesthetic, and the crystals are exceptionally large.  The specimen is mounted on a hard tack base that allows it to stand perfectly for display.  The crystals show clearly defined form, and their overall arrangement makes it stand far above the rest.

Simply put, this is the best thorite that I have seen for sale in all the years that I have been collecting.

AKS13 Parisite

Blackbird Mine, Montana, United States
6.0x 2.3x 1.4 cm

A spectacular parisite specimen from the United States, in fact one of the best parisite specimens that I have ever seen, and probably one of the finest known.

Good parisite is known from only a few localities: Mt. Malosa, Snowbird, Muzo, and Zagi.  By the standards of any of those localities, this one is exceptional--for the size and distinctness of the crystals, and their overall sharpness and appearance.  The central crystal is missing the last few millimeters of its termination, but it is otherwise perfect.

To emphasize the point, it dwarfs anything from Trimouns, Muzo or Zagi, whose specimens tend to top off around 3.5 cm (or less in the case of Trimouns.)  The only locality that I have seen larger crystals from is Mt. Malosa, and I have yet to see one that is not weathered, or pseudomorphed altogether.

In all honesty, parisite hardly qualifies as a "highly sought after mineral," which is why you can get a specimen that is probably in the class of "among the best known" for under $1000.

AKS14 Crocoite with Pyromorphite 

Platt Mine, Zeehan District, Tasmania, Australia

11.0x 9.8x 2.8 cm             

$500

Crocoite/ pyromorphite combinations are only known from a few places worldwide, the most notable being Berezhovsk Russia, Callenberg Germany, Nontron, France, and Zeehan, Tasmania.

Although by no means common, such combos are most abundant from Zeehan.  This piece hails from that locality, but is unusually large-- most tend to be miniatures.

This plate is completely covered with red crocoite crystals set against a beautifully contrasting coating of green pyromorphite, with more on the reverse.

Please note that this specimen is fragile, and some of the crocoite crystals will come off during mailing.  It made it to me by post from Australia, so it should be no problem to send it elsewhere.

RESERVED

AKS15 Marcasite

Cap Blanc Nez, near Pas de Calais, France

7.3x 5.5x 5.3 cm             

$450

A beautiful specimen of Marcasite on chalk, from a classic locality on the French North Sea coast. 

The sharpness and arrangement of the three marcasite "flowers" on this specimen makes it a particularly aesthetic example for the locality, and for the species.

AKS16 Calcite on Amethyst

Santa Cruz Area, Guanajuato, Mexico

11.5x 8.5x 4.3 cm             

$385

An older specimen of calcite with Amethyst from Santa Cruz, Mexico.  There is a bit of cleaving on a couple of the calcites, but this specimen has a striking provenance: Ex. Peter Bancroft, Arkenstone, and Robert Nowakowski.

All in all, it is a good example of amethyst from a classic Mexican locality.

AKS17 Quartz var. Amethyst on Quartz

Marabá, Carajás mineral province, Pará, North Region, Brazil

10.2x 7.0x 5.9 cm 

$235

A cluster of parallel amethyst crystals with very good color, on a spire of white quartz,  There is a bit of damage on the right side of the specimen that is clearly visible in the photographs.

AKS18 Euclase

Piaotang Mine, Xihashan Intrusion, Jiangxi Prov., China

5.5x 3.5x 2.5 cm 

$750

In 2007, there was a small find of euclase in China.  Only a couple hundred good specimens were produced, and virtually all that made it to the international shows were instantly snapped up.

This one was not purchased in Tucson, however it is worth noting that only a single Chinese dealer had any of the material at the 2009 and 2010 shows.  In both cases, the total offerings were limited to fewer than 20 specimens.

This piece is a cluster of large, terminated crystals showing excellent form and bright faces.

AKS19 Quartz var. Amethyst 

Las Vigas Mine, Veracruz, Mexico

6.8x 4.5x 4.0 cm             

$165

An older amethyst from Las Vigas, showing more color than is typically seen in modern specimens.  The majority of those found recently only have color near their terminations, however the color extends more uniformly though out the crystals on this specimen.

AKS20 Copper

Ontonagon County, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, United States
8.0x 5.2x 1.8 cm

$450

A classic crystalline copper specimen from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, composed of numerous stacked crystals to __ cm.  This is undoubtably an older specimen, as evidenced by the beautiful patina.

There is a contact on the reverse (visible in the bottom photograph).

AKS21 Copper

Rockland Mine, Ontonagon Co., Upper Peninsula, Michigan, United States

8.3x 2.4x 2.5 cm             

$375

A group of rather large, flattened copper crystals on a matrix of weathered crystalline copper.

The Rockland mine operated from 1853 to 1880, with one change of ownership in 1870, and produced an estimated 5.8 million lbs of copper.  

This crystal was collected on the mine dumps in 2005 by a friend of mine, and is a surprisingly good specimen from a locality whose specimens are seen rarely at best.

AKS22 Copper

Caledonia Mine, Ontonagon Co., Keeweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, United States

4.0x 2.2x 2.0 cm             

$265

An isolated dodecahedral copper crystal on a calcite matrix, with a nice patina.  Usually when good crystals are found,  they occur off matrix, or on matrixes of copper.

This piece is one of only a handful that I have seen with such isolated crystals on a non-copper matrix.

AKS23 Copper ps. Azurite

Rose Mine, Georgetown Dist., Grant Co., New Mexico

3.6x 2.8x 2.8 cm             

$225

A beautiful pseudomorph, and a stunning example of classic American material that is rarely encountered today.  This specimen is entirely composed of copper, but has preserved the sharpness and distinct form of the azurite rose that it replaced. A top small miniature, with no damage.

AKS24 Columbite

Etta Mine, Keystone District, Pennington Co., South Dakota, United States

8.4x 6.4x 4.0 cm             

Ex. Chris Korpi collection.

RESERVED

AKS25 Orthoclase

Papacharca, Belen Dept., Catamarca Prov., Argentina

6.3x 3.2x 2.2 cm             

$200

A textbook cluster of orthoclase crystals, from an unusual Argentine pegmatite locality.

AKS26 Vanadinite on Hollandite

Taouz, Er Rachidia Prov., Morocco

7.3x 6.5x 3.5 cm             

$235

A specimen of vnadinite on black goethite form Taouz, Morocco.  Unlike the more common specimens from Mibbladen, these have a characteristic, contrasting black matrix.

AKS27 Hemimorphite

Malipo Mine, Yunnan Prov., China

13.4x 9.0x 4.1 cm             

$285

A cabinet hemimorphite, of the sought after, bright blue color.