Mixed Minerals!

A sharp and perfectly terminated gem crystal of light yellow triphane from Afghanistan.  I don't usually buy these, but this one appealed to me as it does  not have the usual etching.  That allows its gem interior and sharpness to be appreciated.

A classic example of a sliced and polished variscite nodule, from "the good locality,"  (there are a few others in the area, but the Clay Canyon examples are by far the most sought after.)  Unlike most of these on the market, which have been sliced into ever thinner sections to maximize monetary gain, this one is a reasonably thick portion of a nodule-- I would estimate somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of it.

A specimen of intense reddish-pink rhodochrosite crystals on a beautifully contrasting matrix of black manganese minerals and silver ore.  While the Uchuccacua mine is primarily a silver mine, these are found these every few to several years in the course of normal exploration.  This piece comes from a pocket hit around 7-8 years ago.

A very beautiful and unusually symmetrical example of this extremely fragile material from Brazil.  These are by no means hard to obtain, but I rarely see one symmetrical or undamaged enough to temp me into buying it.  This one had an excellent star-like appearance, with the golden rutile needles growing epitaxially on a group of hematite crystals.   Setting this piece apart even further, the hematite crystals are even terminated on the bottom.

A beautiful cabinet specimen, featuring two intertwined epidote sprays from Pampa Blanca.  This piece comes from an old US collection, and so this would likely have been among the earlier specimens to come out in the mid 90's.

A small but exquisitely zoned tourmaline crystal, standing upright on a nicely contrasting feldspar matrix. The crystal only measures about 1.6 cm, but the coloration and zoning are incredible!  It is especially unusual to find pieces from this location on matrix, as the pegmatites are typically weathered and crumble away from the tourmalines.  All in all, it's a beautiful little miniature.

A rich cabinet sized specimen of inesite, from N'chwanning.  This piece comes from an old US collection, and the normally thin, delicate crystals are in excellent condition. 

A nice example of ilvaite from Inner Mongolia, with a terminated crystal nestled on a bed of quartz crystals.

A nice example of stolzite dusted scheelite, on matrix.   I had seen a small group of these at Tucson 2015, and was hoping to get more on my last trip to Peru.  Although the find was small,  I was able to come back with a group of pretty good pieces. While these are never especially "sharp", those I saw in Tucson looked especially melted-- the pieces I came back with however have very well formed scheelites, much cleaner (I think) form, and a generous coating of the powdery yellow-green stolzite that makes them very eye catching.  In 5 trips to Peru, I was only able to get an example of this material once before-- I was quite happy to have been there at a time close enough to a find to be able to get more.

A large cabinet example of (relatively) hard to obtain amethyst from Washington.  This piece features a cluster of "scepters" with deeply colored amethystine terminations, sharing a matrix with other colorless quartz crystals.  

A (relatibely) hard to obtain example of "sceptered" amethyst from Washington.  This piece has a crystal with a deeply amethystine termination, positioned nicely at the center of its matrix.  The main crystal does have a chip on the termination-- this is actually more visible in the photos than in real life.  Either way, the price takes this into account.

A terminated, reddish purple liddicoatite crystal on matrix, priced (I think) quite reasonably.

A pristine and very dramatic cluster of barite from sardinia.  This comes from an old US collection.

A nice specimen of cobaltocalcite from Morocco.  While I usually stay away from these, I liked the distinctness of the crystals on this one-- they look kind of like little pink rice grains, standing up on their matrix.  

A cabinet sized specimen of vanadinite from Morocco.  There is vanadinite on both sides, it's somewhat redder on one than the other.  

A pristine calcite crystal with excellent luster and an orangish color resulting from sub-surface iron oxide inclusions, on matrix.  Saw marks on the back, but displays exactly as shown.

A nice example of amethyst from Madagascar.  

A rare (and rich) sample of this uranium bearing carbonate from the Western USA.

A nice sample of bluish green aquamarine from Madagascar. For all the gem material that comes from Madagascar, beryls have been somewhat scarce.  Over the last year however there has been a beryl rush at this location, though most of what is recovered winds up with the cutters.

A nice terminated pair of parallel elbaite crystals, from Brazil.

A terminated, bicolred tourmaline from Brazil.

A bicolored cluster of terminated tourmaline crystals; the green portion is fairly vivid.

A nice thumbnail of pink tourmaline from the Himalaya Mine.

A terminated and quite gemmy crystal of bicolor tourmaline, with fairly vivid color, from Brazil.

A vividly colored, gemmy and terminated crystal of elbaite with a nice deep pink color.

A nice terminated crystal of tourmaline from the Malkhan Pegmatite field.

A terminated (though with a chip at the tip) gemmy tourmaline crystal from Barra de Salinas.

A nice thumbnail specimen of radioactive yellow autunite, from the most well known American locality for the species.  This has been stabilized.

A mess of phosphates on a quartz plate from Llallagua-- the label indicates Vauxite, but I am fiarly sure it is wavellite (the crystals are not exactly blue) *possibly* associated with minor vauxite, or some other member of the vauxite group.  There is also some definite wavellite on the back (as the labels note).

An unusual sample of this lead uranium oxide, from france.  Just about every other example I have ever seen came from the D.R. Congo...

A very sharp, icy green fluorite cube on a bit of matrix.  It could probably be trimmed further, but I have left it as it is.