Baryte

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Baryte is not considered an especially rare mineral species, but with any natural mineral there are occasions when one particular deposit, or occurrence, produces a form of crystal so wildly different than anywhere else, and this is where rarity comes in. Clara mine is one of the most famous mineral collecting sites in the whole of Germany due to its staggering array of rare species, mostly secondary minerals. Of its primary minerals Fluorite and Baryte are probably the best known with its Baryte having a tendency to form unusually 'pointed' tabular crystals. This cabinet-sized display specimen is a perfect presentation of this unusual crystal form, with mostly undamaged colourless to cream-coloured crystals to 3.1 cm in length showing the complexity of angles on the faces around the edges of the bladed/tabular crystals. A couple of the crystals towards one end of the specimen show chipping to their tips, but the vast majority of the Baryte crystals are absolute perfection and enhanced by brown internal zonation from included iron oxides near their base. Specimens of this size and quality are just simply not seen from Clara mine, with this magnificent example coming from the Hettrich collection in Germany. A crystallographic treasure.