Magnetite

Unknown Owner

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Bright silvery-black, mirror-lustrous, joined octahedral crystals on a bed of smaller octahedral magnetite xlts and calcite crystals. While not rare per se, there were a lot of these after all, but this is a special specimen with a special look and balance to it that sets it apart. It is difficult to find a truly competition-worthy magnetite and this special piece has a quality to it that is hard to convey, that makes it jump out. Alex's magnetite thumbnails (there are two here) are among our favorites of his metallics suite. This specimen comes from the famous coned-shaped “Mountain That Eats Men” near the city of Potosi in the southern highlands of Bolivia. Alex purchased it via Gene Schlepp from the collection of Rukin Jelks when it was sold. Rukin, known for his love of metallics in particular, had a fine thumbnail suite that had not been seen in decades.