International Minerals #25

Deeply orange blades of wulfenite forming a lovely cluster on gossan matrix. The crystals are bright and glossy, the colour is truly amazing. Associated species are plattnerite and vanadinite. A superb sample from the initial finds.

A large and gemmy cognac-coloured topaz perched on white albite matrix. Attached blades of mica and included riebeckite needles make this fine specimen even more interesting. The crystal is in fact doubly terminated in the lower backside section. Great condition and aesthetics.

This is a truly tall and well-shaped azurite crystal from Tsumeb mine. The crystal is unusually elongated and shows beautiful striatins parallel to the c-axis on all sides. The attached dolomite breccia matrix sets a pleasing contrast and makes this piece perfectly balanced. A classic piece of great beauty and aesthetics!

Amazing cubic growth patterns of fluorite!

Beautiful gold leaves from a rare and now defunct locality.

WOW! Gemmy, magenta-red rubellites sitting in perfect upright position on a white quartz crystal. How many pockets have ever yielded that deepest red rubellite colour? Well, actually only very few, and these rubellites rank among the very best mineral specimens in the world. This piece is indeed a superb miniature from a small and limited find from Sahatany valley, collected in 2015. The pocket was just the size of a football, and only a handful of fine crystals were recovered. This one ranks among the very best rubellites ever found in Africa. 2x professionally repaired, no restoration.

Superb red/orange bicolour euclase from a very limited find in 2018. Only about 25 pieces were recovered in an alluvial deposit. This crystal easily ranks among the top 5 and is indeed a very special one. The red section is exceptionally clean, it could cut a great gem.

A spray of vivid red proustites perched on calcite matrix. Fantastic colour, and fantastic composition!

Fine etched heliodor from Brazilian sources is quite rare and hard to come by. Just a few deposits have produced a limited amount of fine and distinctively shaped crystals. This piece comes from Aracruz, Espirito Santo and features a wonderfully etched and sharply pointed termination. The lower section shows much heavier etching and a number of hollow tubes coming into the crystal from the bottom side. As a result, the colour appears much lighter and sets a lovely contrast to the super glossy and highly transparent section on top. No damage. Ex Kurt Wintersteiger coll.

Superb loop clean phenakite from an old find. No more have been coming ever since. This piece is a total floater and well shaped all the way around.

A purple fluorite perfectly sitting on pyrite and calcite matrix. The combination of colours is truly amazing and very eye-candy. In addition, the fluorite shows beautiful hoppered growth structures and nicely bevelled edges. No damage.

Zultanite is the colour-changing gem variety of the species diaspore. This is a surprisingly large and well formed, doubly-terminated crystal from recent production at Mugla, Turkey. The majority of the crystal is loop clean and great rough material for cutting.