Cuprite

Unknown Owner

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Very few crystals from this mine, even damaged, attained the size of the giant octohedron shown here (4.2 cm across!). This is a solid mass of interconnected, large octahedrons, complete all around except only contacted on the back side where it grew out from matrix. The imposing size of the crystals, in person, puts this piece up there with the largest Zairean cuprites in stature - but the luster here is far brighter and more mirror-like/metallic in nature. This piece really has "impact" and ca be seen from far away, on its shelf. For the locality, and the finds as we have seen to date, we rank it as one of the more significant specimens. The small bits of brown you see are remnant pocket clay. We left this on to prove the luster and surface is natural, and not chemically cleaned