Cuprite with Native Copper

$9,000.00

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The ArkenstoneFeatured

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This is a highly significant specimen of Cuprite crystals from a singular discovery in this remote copper mine, circa 2006-2008. We were buying a lot of Russian material at the time and seldom saw anything as good or better. Although this can sit horizontally, we prefer vertical if mounted in a base, for display. Rising in an elongate cluster are several dozen Cuprite octahedra that start small at the bottom of the specimen and are surmounted by larger crystals all the way up to the apex of this commanding and attractive piece. The crystals are bright and metallic with a deep red color and range in size from 7 mm near the bottom to 3.5 cm at the top! They are very lustrous, in person - hard to see in photos. The broad octahedral faces dominate and then there are variably developed dodecahedron and cube faces on the crystals. The Cuprite crystals are in excellent conditions with only a few showing minor contact impressions by what were probably other Cuprite crystals in the pocket as they grew. There is even some small areas where irregular blebs and crude crystals of Native Copper from 1 to 4 mm are present. It's a very fine and well-composed display specimen from this now famous locality. Ex. Rock H. Currier collection #9001. Rock notes on his label that he purchased it from a Russian dealer in 2014, sometime after the initial major discovery.