This gorgeous Smithsonite has sensational color. Some Cobaltoan Smithsonites are a light or pasty pinkish color. This large specimen exhibits rich pink color, as you might see from Cobaltoan calcite from Morocco or an excellent rose quartz. The crystal sizes range up to 1 cm long. They have great luster, and they are ascetically positioned on the matrix. Actually the way it sits, it appears to be a rosey gem-crystal studded cave (or doorway) going into the piece (first pic), as you look to the left of it, it is thickly covered in pink smithsonite (pic 2).  The only noticeable damage, if you can call it that, is easily seen in the first pic, near the bottom, there is a spot where the underlying matrix shows through (it was probably contacting the host rock in the pocket) It is a large piece measuring nearly 5 inches vertically, it  weighs 594 grams (1 1/4 pounds). A fine example from the closed Tsumeb Mine. 

FLUORITE14 - Fluorite
$ 850.00 (=~ £ 686.42) SOLD NET
Minerva Mine #1, Rosiclair Level, Ozark Mahoning Mine, Cave-in-Rock District, Hardin Co., Illinois
small cabinet - 5.5 x 2.7 x 2.3 cm

As most may know by now, bright lustrous multi-colored fluorites from Illinois have become hard to find and extremely valuable, ever since Ross Lilly sold his best-of-Cave-In-Rock distrct fluorite collection. This one is blue with purple phantoms in each cube. The surface is glassy and there's no visible damage. It was purchased from Stan Esbenshade in 1994 at the Tucson show, and was collected ealrier that year (making it one of the last to be found before the mines closed). 

This is a top quality cave-in-rock fluorite miniature. 

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(click on highlighted pictures to enlarge)

DANBURITE7 - Danburite rough and cut
$ 99.00 (=~ £ 79.95) SOLD NET
Dalnegorsk, Primorskij Kraj, Russia
miniature - 4 x 2.5 x 2 cm

This is the best Russian danburite I've seen in over 10 years of sourcing these. The color is a rich, gemmy cognac and its in great condition. The termination is pristine, and there's only one very small nick on the backside edge. The crystal weighs 24 grams, and it comes with a color-matching 3 carat oval stone. The stone is bright and has one tiny inclusion underneath the pavillion, which is not visible from any further than about 2 feet away. I recently became aware that the rich color saturation is due to modern exposure to radiation, so the price has been dramatically reduced.

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

DIOPSIDE7 - Diopside
$ 1600.00 (=~ £ 1292.08) NET
Merelani Hills, Lelatema Mtns., Arusha Region, Tanzania
miniature - 4 x 3.6 x 2.7 cm

This large beautiful Diopside is bright apple-green, lustrous and without damage. Diopside from Merelani of this size is very unusual, especially with the great color. no damage.

 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

SILVER3 - Native Silver
$ 1395.00 (=~ £ 1126.54) SOLD NET
Kongsburg, Buskerud, Norway
miniature - 4.3 x 2.6 x 2.1 cm

This is a single thick wire of Kongsburg silver, nicely coated with micro acanthite crystals which is typical of the location. It bends and curves in a pleasant arc, which displays well in a case. no damage. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

QUARTZ60 - Quartz Cluster with Hematite Phantoms
$ 395.00 (=~ £ 318.98) SOLD
Riemvasmaak, Kakamas Dist. Northern Cape Prov., South Africa
small cabinet - 7 x 6.5 x 6

These are super-bright quartz crystals, each with a bright red phantom. It was found in the area now famous for green fluorites. This was part of a small pocket, and is quite unusual for the locality. It weighs 473 grams. The quartz crystals average 1 cm, but are as long as 2.2 cms. no visible damage to the quartz. It displays nicely as well. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

TSAVORITE3 - Garnet Var. Tsavorite with Diopside
$ 1350.00 (=~ £ 1090.20) SOLD NET
Merelani Hills, Lelatema Mtns., Arusha Region, Tanzania
miniature - 4.2 x 2.5 x 3 cm

This is a unique specimen of elongated Tsavorite crystals with Diopside. The Tsavorite is a rich leaf green, and consequently leached all the Vanadium out of the Diopside. The KD is the partition coefficient, which is much higher for garnet than diopside, therefore the vanadium (causes the green color) stayed within the garnet, not the diopside. This piece is unusual in that it exhibits the partition coefficient, but also because Tsavorite rarely creates elongated crystals like this. There is a little contact on the tops of the elongated crystals, and there are small bright pyrites throughout. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

CREEDITE4 - Creedite
$ 2500.00 (=~ £ 2018.88) SOLD NET
Akchatau Mine, Akchatau, Karaganda Oblast', Kazakhstan
small cabinet - 5.5 x 5.5 x 4.2 cm

Creedite usually is red-orange, and found in Mexico. Rarely is purple creedite found. It has been found in Mexico, but the other classic location is Kazakhstan. Creedite is a complex Aluminum salt. This one has a beautiful purple-Lavender color, with bright, lustrous crystals up to 1 cm long. A beautiful piece in good condition as pictured. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

BERYL6 - Beryl Var. Heliodor
$ 950.00 (=~ £ 767.17) SOLD NET
Volodarsk-Volynskll, Zhytomyr Oblast', Ukraine
small cabinet - 7 x 4.5 x 2.6 cm

Heliodors from this classic location have become scarce and expensive. This Heliodor weighs a substantial 123 grams. There are multiple crystal faces resulting from prolonged etching while underground. It is fairly gemmy with a pleasant yellowish green color. It has a hefty size and the price is downright cheap at less than $8 per gram (average price for more transparent clean crystals is around $50 per gram nowadays). I got this from an old rockshop in the middle of nowhere, so I'm able to pass along the good pricing. Comes mounted on a 2" acrylic base. 

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