CM01 Fluorite 

Xianghuapu Mine, Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu Co. , Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

9.9x 9.8x 9.2 cm             

$1700

 This is one of my 2 favorite pieces that I purchased at this year’s show.  This specimen consists of multiple green fluorite cubes showing clear phantoms, perched on matrix.

The whole specimen has a very sculptural appearance; the positioning of the fluorites on the almost coral-like matrix makes it seem almost organic.  I can find only one crystal with a single corner cleaved, with that minor (and difficult to spot) exception, the piece is perfect. 

For years I have largely ignored Chinese fluorite, but I am realizing that that has been a bit of a mistake…  Despite the massive quantities and abundant damage, with some looking it is possible to find superb pieces like this one.

CM02 Fluorite 

Xianghuapu Mine (Maiwan Mine), Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu Co. , Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

12.4x 10.0x 6.0 cm             

$1800

A second fluorite from Xianghuapu, this one displaying a deep green color and a large, sharp crystal.  The entire specimen is undamaged, and well balanced.  I had considered trimming off the crystal on the back right of the specimen, but I decided to leave it alone, as a single, large crystal perfectly centered would seem a little too “prepared”…

 Overall this is a really great Chinese fluorite with good color, and absolutely no damage.  This specimen and the above are from a find made a few years ago.

CM03 Silver 

Keeweenaw Co., Keeweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, United States

5.3x 3.0x 1.9 cm             

$1650

A superb crystallized silver from Michigan, and one of the nicest miniatures I have seen from the location.  It is not the largest piece, but at over 5 cm it is still quite substantial.

This specimen has numerous, fairly sharp and chunky crystals branching out from a single stem of silver, with some calcite at the base.  Wire silvers and thinner herring bone specimens are known from many localities, but these heftier crystals really only came in any appreciable quantity from Norway or Michigan.

This is obviously an old piece, most silvers from this part of the USA came out in the 1800’s, and it would be safe to assume that this piece comes from that time period.

CM04 Fluorite on Fluorite 

Ruijing, Jiangxi Prov., China

14.4x 8.8x 7.7 cm             

$1650

This specimen is from a new find of fluorite brought to Tucson this year.  About 4 chinese dealers had them, this was probably one of the best pieces in the size range.

 Specimens from this find are notable for the presence of a second generation of grey cubic fluorite over lime green DODECAHEDRONS of fluorite.  Fluorite dodecahedrons are nothing new—I’ve seen them from a number of locations, particularly Dal’Negorsk, but from China this is the first time that I can recall seeing the habit.  Chinese fluorite is virtually always cubic or octahedral…

 The habit makes it more interesting, but the piece is beautiful even without that.  The gray cubic fluorite frames the bright green ones, and the piece is entirely damage free, contacted only on the bottom surface on which it is supposed to stand for display.  The framing of the green fluorite by the gray is the reason I liked this one… the appearance of the others just didn’t seem to be balanced.

CM05 Calcite (Twin!) 

Fuzichong Pb-Zn- ore field, Cenxi Co., Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

17.4x 10.9x 7.5 cm             

$880

These large calcite twins were one of the new finds last year… I looked then but could not find any, and I don’t think I saw any online so I will assume that the find was not terribly prolific.

This is a large twin, slightly purplish and with minor dustings of pyrite over which additional calcite has crystallized.  I suspect this has something to do with the purplish appearance, but I could be way off the mark.

There is some contacting on the reverse but for the little I saw, there were no matrix pieces so this would be present on virtually all specimens from the find.

CM06 Calcite (Twin!) 

Fuzichong Pb-Zn- ore field, Cenxi Co., Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

12.9x 10.5x 8.0 cm             

$750

These large calcite twins were one of the new finds last year… I looked then but could not find any, and I don’t think I saw any online so I will assume that the find was not terribly prolific.

This is a large twin, slightly purplish and with minor dustings of pyrite over which additional calcite has crystallized.  I suspect this has something to do with the purplish appearance, but I could be way off the mark.

There is minor contacting on the reverse but for the little I saw, there were no matrix pieces so this would be present on virtually all specimens from the find.

CM07 Calcite, Pyrite 

Daye Mine, Huangshi Pref., Hubei Prov., China

17.2x 9.8x 6.8 cm             

$480

 I found one dealer who had a number of these clusters of tabular calcite crystals, and purchased a couple.  The calcites are dusted with pyrite, and in the case of only a few pieces (like this one), the pyrite was iridescent.  Interestingly, a couple also had small iridescent pyrite clusters on the exact center of each tabular calcite crystal.  I though these were interesting….

RESERVED

CM08 Calcite, Pyrite 

Daye Mine, Huangshi Pref., Hubei Prov., China

14.8x 9.0x 7.2 cm             

$470

 I found one dealer who had a number of these clusters of tabular calcite crystals, and purchased a couple.  The calcites are dusted with pyrite, and a couple also had small iridescent pyrite clusters on the exact center of each tabular calcite crystal.  I though these were interesting….

Complete on both sides, and stands perfectly for display.

CM09 Calcite, Pyrite 

Daye Mine, Huangshi Pref., Hubei Prov., China

15.5x 9.3x 4.6 cm             

$390

 I found one dealer who had a number of these clusters of tabular calcite crystals, and purchased a couple.  The calcites are dusted with pyrite, and a couple also had small iridescent pyrite clusters on the exact center of each tabular calcite crystal.  I though these were interesting….

CM10 Fluorite 

Xianghuapu Mine, Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu Co. , Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

9.3x 8.0x 6.6 cm             

$440

This is one of the older Chinese fluorite habits.  It seems that every year or two, there is a new "edition" of Chinese fluorite… this would be the edition from about 8-10 years ago.  I remember seeing lots of these on my first trips to Tucson, I always ignored them because while the color was good, the specimens tended to be unsightly plates with angular edges that highlighted the fact that they had been broken off from larger plates.

 This one does not suffer from that problem—it seems to be a spire of fluorite that was removed from the base, so there are no unsightly edges.  When backlit with a daylight spectrum bulb, the intense green color really shows through—the only color comparison I can think of would be to a backlit lollipop or green gummybear.  There have been numerous fluorite finds since these were recovered (just look at the pieces above and below) but I don’t think there have been any major finds in this color.  The main green finds at Xianghualing and Xianghuapu have had much tamer colors (though I suppose It could be said that their crystal definition was better)

 I will also point out that this specimen has been oiled.  If you hold it really close to your nose, you will smell peanut oil… I take this as a testament to it being a relatively older fluorite, because for the least several years the chinese have been using synthetic oils.  I could clean it, but I find this funny and interesting so I will leave it….

I suppose I should also include this disclaimer:  Contains peanut products, do not handle if allergic.

CM25 Spessartine on Smokey Quartz 

Wuhan Mine, Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Fujian Prov., China

9.8x 7.5x 5.0 cm             

$550

 A nice specimen from the finds at Tongbei.  This mine is actually a large granite hill, which over the last several years has been excavated to recover specimens.  At this point, only a small portion of that hill remains.  Specimens with better color do exist, but given what's available these days this piece isn't bad.  

This is a cabinet specimen, with over 20 smokey quartz points surrounded by thousands of small orange garnet crystals.  

These specimens will undoubtedly become classics in years to come, already there are fewer and fewer being sold. I remember the first year they appeared in Tucson virtually every single Chinese dealer had multiple flats of them, but as with many of the major Chinese finds, the flood of specimens quickly disappears. 

CM11 Spessartine on Smokey Quartz 

Wuhan Mine, Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Fujian Prov., China

5.1x 4.3x 4.0 cm             

$180

 A nice specimen from the finds at Tongbei.  This mine is actually a large granite hill, which over the last several years has been excavated to recover specimens.  At this point, only a small portion of that hill remains.  Specimens with better color do exist, but given what's available these days this piece isnt bad.  I particularly liked the arrangement of the quartz crystals with respect to each other  Only one of the quartz crystals has a small chip near the termination, but other than that the specimen is damage free.... That is more than can be said for the majority of these things.

CM12 Quartz 

Fengjiashan Mine, Huangshi Pref., Hubei Prov., China

6.7x 5.7x 4.5 cm             

$280

 A nice japan law twin quartz, on matrix, from the Fengjiashan mine.  This mine is particularly notable for its inesites. Amethyst/calcite combinations, and apophyllites.

 The twin is located in the center of a nest of quartz crystals, and is quite gemmy, for a law twin.  For whatever reason, they are always milky white….

 As a side note, the mine’s name is apparently pronounced with an “H”… “Hongjiashan.”

And “Shangbao” (the fluorite location) is actually “Sangbao”… I still butcher the pronounciations, but minor corrections make me sound less confused when talking to people...

CM13 Fluorite on Calcite 

Shangbao Pyrite mine, Leiyang Co., Hengyang Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

4.3x 3.8x 4.2 cm             

$280

A nice fluorite specimen from the Shangbao mine.  While Shangbao is notable for its pyrites and dolomites, it is particularly famous for its fluorite.  While mst of the early pieces fo the minehad simple cubic crystals, a couple years ago there was a small find of specimens containing these interesting cubo-octahedral crystals

CM14 Fluorite 

Ruyuan fluorite mine, Ruyuan Co., Shaoguan Prefecture, Guangdong Province, China

5.6x 5.4x 2.8 cm             

$220

 Three fluorite crystals on a quartz matrix.  These crystals have smooth surfaces are are mostly colorless, with the exception of thin purple wisps of color.  I wouldn't call them phantoms... the color seems to be placed a bit more randomly.  Whatever the case, it's a nice miniature

As a side note, the Ruyuan mine has been somewhat dormant as far as specimens go.  Several years ago it was the source of many fine dark sea green fluorites, but few specimens have come since.

CM15 Scorodite 

Hezhou, Guangxi Zhuang A.R., China

4.5x 2.6x 2.3 cm             

$280

 A nice spcimen of scorodite on pyrite from the find made approximately 3 years ago.  This is another one of those Chinese finds that only just appeared on the market before fading into relative scarcity.  This specimen has bits of blue scattered throughout the pyrite, with one particularly good crystal peaking through.  Good, blue, and well crystallized scorodite like this is really only known from a couple Mexican localities, Tsumeb, and one location in Morocco.  Specimens from either of the first two would cost a fortune, and the Moroccan ones are rarely available. 

The largest crystal is just over 1 cm.  The blue is a bit less intense in person

CM16 Calcite on Fluorite 

Xianghuapu Mine, Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu Co. , Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

6.5x 4.9x 3.6 cm             

$140

 A tabular gray calcite crystal on an etched, light green fluorite octahedron.  The fluorite is etched, but I cannot find any cleaves or points of attachment so I believe it is a floater.

This is from a find made a few years back.

CM17 Calcite on Fluorite 

Xianghuapu Mine, Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu Co. , Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China

6.6x 5.0x 3.5 cm             

$160

 A tabular gray calcite crystal on an etched, light green fluorite octahedron.  The fluorite is etched, but I cannot find any cleaves or points of attachment so I believe it is a floater.

This is from a find made a few years back.

CM18 Phlogopite (green!) 

Bao Shan, Yunnan Prov., China

7.6x 7.3x 4.6 cm             

$200

 A large book of  gemmy GREEN phlogopite from somewhere in Yunnan Province.  Only one Chinese dealer had a few of these, and I bought them all.

I have seen gemmy phlogopites from Afghanistan's Kokcha Valley, but those are always orange.  This is the first time that I have seen a greenish example.

The phlogopite crystal is sharp, well formed, and reasonably large.

CM19 Silver 

Keweenaw Co., Keeweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, United States

4.9x 2.5x 1.1 cm             

$700

A nice crystallized silver from Michigan.  This is an elongated crystal from a classic American locality.

This specimen has fairly chunky crystals...  Wire silvers and thinner herring bone specimens are known from many localities, but these heftier crystals really only came in any appreciable quantity from Norway and Michigan.

This is obviously an old piece, most silvers from this part of the USA came out in the 1800’s, and it would be safe to assume that this piece comes from that time period.

When viewed from the side (lower right image) this looks a lot like a bird.....

CM20 Rhodochrosite on Elpidite 

Monst Saint Hillaire, Rouville, Monteregie, Quebec, Canada 

8.0x 6.2x 4.6 cm             

$380

I have seen a number of these tabular, triangular shaped rhodochrosites from MSH, but I have only seen matrix specimens a couple times.  This specimen has 3 crystals in a cluster approximately 2.5 cm across on a matrix shared by numerous elpidite crystals.

There are more species found at MSH than at Tsumeb, but most only occur as micros. Many of those that occur as visible specimens tend to be jumbled clusters of many species, and are usually not very pretty..

CM21 Taaffeite 

Ohngaing, Mogok, Mandalay Division, Myanmar (Burma) 

1.7x 1.4x 0.75 cm             

$500

 Taaffeite is considered to be one of the rarest gemstones in existance, especially now that painite has been bumped down several notches on the rarity scale.

This is a water worn crystal of the species, showing a couple faces.  As with many Burmese minerals, this one comes from an alluvial deposit, where miners work to sift soil and gravel deposited long ago by rivers.

CM22 Red Quartz, Pyrite 

Daye Mine, Huangshi Pref., Hubei Prov., China

6.3x 6.5x 3.3 cm             

$85

A specimen of hematite included quartz with chalcopyrite and calcite.  This is from a new find made within the last year.

CM23 Red Quartz, Calcite, Chalcopyrite 

Daye Mine, Huangshi Pref., Hubei Prov., China

6.8x 6.2x 4.0 cm             

$135

A specimen of hematite included quartz with chalcopyrite and calcite.  This is from a new find made within the last year.

CM24 Scorodite 

Kami Mine, Ayopaya Prov., Cochabamba Dept., Bolivia

9.2x 7.5x 6.0 cm             

$250

This specimen is ugly, but when was the last time you saw a Bolivian scorodite?  This specimen consists of a cluster of quartz crystals, richly covered with a crust of botryoidal scorodite.

As with scorodite from many other localities, it will change color depending on the lighting under which it is viewed.  The image below shows the color under incandescent light, and the images at right are closer to its appearance under natural sunlight.