Description
Detailed Description
A beautiful golden calcite crystal – it has superb colour and internal glow. The crystal is sharp, with brilliant glassy lustre (I’ve had to tame that lustre in the photos, but it has top lustre.) It is twinned, yet the twinning on this crystal is very subtle – you really have to look closely to see the composition plane (the line across the middle where it is twinned – visibile in the second photo). The calcite is associated with sphalerite. In excellent condition – there is a tiny cleave on the backside/underside of the termination to the left, not seen as displayed. Sits perfectly for display as photographed. This crystal looks fantastic under the lights.
About These Elmwood Calcites
First opened in the 1970s, the Elmwood Mine (the Elmwood-Gordonsville-Cumberland mining complex) has produced some of the world’s finest calcite crystals, many of which are twinned. Over the years, the miners referred to the large orange Elmwood calcite crystals as “footballs”, and they referred to the clear gemmy calcites in this update as “jewels”. These are from a pocket found a few years ago. Most specimens were damaged and these are exceptional – the handful of high-quality specimens in this update are the result of a quest through many flats of specimens.
