A beautiful historic miniature from Bisbee, featuring an excellent principal rosette of azurite crystals, along with a smaller rosette at the upper left.  These rosettes are in excellent condition (there are a few incomplete azurites lower on the piece). The azurite is an intense deep blue, particularly under bright light. With magnification, you can appreciate […]

Clusters of sparkling very dark blue crystals of azurite comprise this historical specimen. These crystals are sharp, lustrous and intense blue under strong light – they look great with magnification! Much of the piece is in excellent condition, and there are also some areas with missing/incomplete crystals. From the Pete Richards collection, he acquired it […]

A specimen comprised of well-formed, midnight-blue crystals on gossan. There are small malachite-coated cuprite octahedra in association on this piece. Gorgeous intense blue under strong light, and super under magnification. In excellent condition from the optimal display angle (some contacted areas visible from other angles). From the Pete Richards collection. He acquired it from Bill […]

This is a very 3-dimensional specimen, hard to represent in a photograph. It seems it was a floater of crystallized azurite in the gossan – it does not appear to have been attached. The piece is comprised of a myriad of small, intensely blue crystals. The crystals look super under light with magnification. Overall the […]

A wonderful velvety azurite, of beautiful intense blue hues. In excellent condition, only a couple of rubs. From the Pete Richards collection. He acquired it from Bill Cook, ex. James Stewart collection. Mr. Stewart’s grandfather, Harry Stewart, was a Bisbee miner and collector.  Harry’s son John was born in Bisbee in 1911. A gorgeous old […]

An interesting quartz crystal from the Grenville Province, on matrix. The prism faces have some concave curvature to them. The termination forms are a little indistinct at the top – it may have contacted at some point, and then recrystallized. This specimen is from a pocket at the “Midway” outcrop, Gibson Road East.

This quartz crystal comes to a very steep point, and the main surface of this “termination” is concave, with small round depressions (visible in the second photo). Typically, quartz crystals from the calcite vein-dikes and related deposits in the Grenville province are rounded – this makes some of the morphology more difficult to interpret. In […]

A cluster of sharp fluoro-richterite crystals from the Tory Hill vein dikes. This specimen is from the “Island Hole”, Gibson Road East.

Exceptionally sharp, lustrous fluoro-richterite crystals from the famous Tory Hill vein dikes. This specimen is from a pocket at the “Midway” outcrop, Gibson Road East.

Beautiful deep red grossular crystals to 1.1 cm, with green diopside. The grossular crystals are deep red, sharp and highly lustrous. A super Ontario grossular.

A beautiful sharp, lustrous wine-coloured zircon crystal from the classic Canadian zircon locality, Kuehl Lake. The 1.3 cm crystal is doubly terminated – the terminations have bright glassy lustre. A beauty.

A cluster of wonderful vanadinite crystals. Great colour, with such sharp crystals. This is a superb specimen from the ACF Mine Workings at Mibladen. For more about the Mibladen Mining District, including photos of some of the vanadinite workings, see Morocco: The Northern Sahara and the Atlas Mountains (Part 2). (Note, the big hole depicted in […]