The cuprites from the Rubtsovskiy Mine in Russia are widely considered the best ever found. The Rubtsovsky Mine is an operating copper mine, and the oxidation zone has produced Cuprites, Azurites, native copper, silver, and iodine minerals like Miersite, and Marshite. I have been following the production for the last two years, to better understand how these are unique and what pieces stand out from "the crowd." About 95+% of the production have damage of some kind to a corner or edge. This is largely due to the miners who when extracting crystals from the kaolin clay zone (which protects the Cuprites), they drop them into their pockets, and they get dinged. 

This piece is well crystallized with edges about 2 cm long(one edge is slightly elongated at 2.4 cm). It is lustrous, with small silver crystals on two faces. The Rubtsovskly Mine is the only location in the world where silver occurs on Cuprites (Mineralogical Almanac Vol. 16, issue 1, 2011). there are a half dozen smaller cuprites attached to the side of the central large crystal. It's in great condition, with only one "dulled," corner, on its bottom. 

COPPER2 - Copper with Cuprite
$ 95.00 (=~ AUS$ 147.53) SOLD
Rubtsovsky Mine, Altai Krai, Siberia, Russia
thumbnail - 3.3 x 2.3 x 1.6 cm

The cuprites from the Rubtsovskiy Mine in Russia are widely considered the best ever found. The Rubtsovsky Mine is an operating copper mine, and the oxidation zone has produced Cuprites, Azurites, native copper, silver, and iodine minerals like Miersite, and Marshite. I have been following the production for the last two years, to better understand how these are unique and what pieces stand out from "the crowd." About 95+% of the production have damage of some kind to a corner or edge. This is largely due to the miners who when extracting crystals from the kaolin clay zone (which protects the Cuprites), they drop them into their pockets, and they get dinged. 

This piece is dendritic native copper with a 1.1 cm cuprite octohedron on the upper side. The copper is well crystallized and distinct. The cuprite has smaller copper crystals (redder in color) growing within its back side. It has Great character, and is without damage.

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

COPPER3 - Copper pseudomorphs after Cuprite with Silver
$ 175.00 (=~ AUS$ 271.76) SOLD
Rubtsovsky Mine, Altai Krai, Siberia, Russia
thumbnail - 2.2 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm

The cuprites from the Rubtsovsky Mine in Russia are widely considered the best ever found. The Rubtsovsky Mine is an operating copper mine, and the oxidation zone has produced Cuprites, Azurites, native copper, silver, and iodine minerals like Miersite, and Marshite. I have been following the production for the last two years, to better understand how these are unique and what pieces stand out from "the crowd." About 95+% of the production have damage of some kind to a corner or edge. This is largely due to the miners who when extracting crystals from the kaolin clay zone (which protects the Cuprites), they drop them into their pockets, and they get dinged. 

This piece consists of four interlocked complete pseudomorphs of native Copper after Cuprite. There are two primary crystals, of about the same size that are connected. The slightly larger crystal has two smaller one embedded within it. On the backside of this crystal is a patch of native silver. This is a unique specimen, as copper pseudomorphs occur less than about 1% of the time, and silver on Cuprites only occurs at the Rubtsovsky Mine. No damage.

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

COPPER4 - Copper pseudomorph after Cuprite
$ 125.00 (=~ AUS$ 194.12) SOLD
Rubtsovsky Mine, Altai Krai, Siberia, Russia
thumbnail - 2.1 x 1.6 x 1.4 cm

The cuprites from the Rubtsovsky Mine in Russia are widely considered the best ever found. The Rubtsovsky Mine is an operating copper mine, and the oxidation zone has produced Cuprites, Azurites, native copper, silver, and iodine minerals like Miersite, and Marshite. I have been following the production for the last two years, to better understand how these are unique and what pieces stand out from "the crowd." About 95+% of the production have damage of some kind to a corner or edge. This is largely due to the miners who when extracting crystals from the kaolin clay zone (which protects the Cuprites), they drop them into their pockets, and they get dinged. 

This piece consists of three distinct crystals of native copper after Cuprite. the form is great with the smallest crystal "perched," on top. The pseudomorphs occur less than 1% of the time vs. whole cuprites. No damage. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

COPPER5 - Copper pseudomorphs after Cuprite with Silver
$ 175.00 (=~ AUS$ 271.76) SOLD
Rubtsovsky Mine, Altai Krai, Siberia, Russia
thumbnail - 2.0 x 1.6 x 1.3 cm

The cuprites from the Rubtsovsky Mine in Russia are widely considered the best ever found. The Rubtsovsky Mine is an operating copper mine, and the oxidation zone has produced Cuprites, Azurites, native copper, silver, and iodine minerals like Miersite, and Marshite. I have been following the production for the last two years, to better understand how these are unique and what pieces stand out from "the crowd." About 95+% of the production have damage of some kind to a corner or edge. This is largely due to the miners who when extracting crystals from the kaolin clay zone (which protects the Cuprites), they drop them into their pockets, and they get dinged. 

This piece involves two distinct crystals of partially pseudomorphed native copper after cuprite crystals. The edges are sharp, the lustre is very good, and sprinkled on two faces is the distinctive native silver (which only occurs at this mine world wide  (Mineralogical Almanac Vol. 16, issue 1, 2011)). No damage.

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

QUARTZ26 - Quartz var. Amethyst phantom
$ 65.00 (=~ AUS$ 100.94) SOLD
Ambatofinandrana, Madagascar
thumbnail - 4.5 x 1.2 x 1.2 cm

This unusual example of Quartz phantom exhibits a rare habit: the phantoms alternate purple/black/purple/black as they travel through the Quartz crystal. This came from one small pocket about two years ago. I have not seen any more since then.

The termination is pristine, only a tiny chip near the base. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

QUARTZ27 - Quartz var. Amethyst phantom
$ 65.00 (=~ AUS$ 100.94) SOLD
Ambatofinandrana, Madagascar
miniature - 4.3 x 1.4 x 1.0 cm

This unusual example of Quartz phantom exhibits a rare habit: the phantoms alternate purple/black/purple/black as they travel through the Quartz crystal. This came from one small pocket about two years ago. 

The termination is pristine, and overall I didn't find any dings or chips. This is a unique attractive Quartz.