Name: Cassiterite with Muscovite
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 4200 USD
Availability: InStock

Cassiterite with Muscovite

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Impressive and attractive, this combination specimen from Mt. Xuebaoding features a striking cluster of Cassiterite crystals on a Muscovite matrix, with the largest Cassiterite crystal being 3 cm across. The sheer luster and glassiness of these, combined with their sharpness and isolated display atop a natural pedestal, elevate this to the next level above most others. These Cassiterites have a flattened, ridge-like habit with terraced faces, and they are sharp, splendent, and jet-black. The luster is superb, well beyond what the photographs can capture. Picture in your mind a Steuben's version of cut and polished Obsidian, and you will have a more accurate image. The bladed, hexagonal Muscovite crystals are well formed, in excellent condition, and complement the Cassiterites well. One very interesting trait of this large miniature is that both Cassiterites have a contiguous, mirror-image, healed fracture that transverses the middle of each crystal. It's a fascinating look, especially in person, and one can only imagine the conditions that would cause that. The famous Pingwu Beryl Mine is best known for superb Aquamarine and Scheelite crystals, and now world-class Cassiterites can be added to that list. This is classic, excellent and aesthetic material from Mt. Xuebaoding, and even better in person. It is a large miniature, borderline at being a small-cabinet piece. It has a shocking, three-dimensional look of the highest quality for this classic locale. Old material.