Name: Inesite and Fluorapophyllite-(K), on Hubeite
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 3500 USD
Availability: InStock

Inesite and Fluorapophyllite-(K), on Hubeite

Free shipping
Seller offers an extended return window of up to 30 days
Ships from Not specified

A SUPERB combination specimen among the most aesthetic Chinese miniatures of any species we have handled, for the elegant arrangement of rare crystals here. As a bonus, the combination includes the ULTRA-RARE silicate Hubeite, from the famous Fengjiashan Mine of China. This showy specimen is highlighted by multiple, angled bow ties of salmon-colored Inesite crystals, where the largest individual fan is about 1.8 cm and the largest bowtie is 3.4 cm. The shape is the first important thing to note but the real exceptional quality of the piece, is the coating that makes it sparkly when others are simply - not. The Inesite is completely coated with sugary, tiny crystals of Fluorapophyllite, and elsewhere one Fluorapophyllite has developed into a 9mm, tabular crystal that rises up from the plentiful masses around it. Under this coating you will see several dark clusters of Hubeite, for which Fengjiashan is the TYPE LOCALITY and, in fact, the only significant locality in the world. In several places, including the bottom, the Hubeites are exposed. These visible clusters show they are composed of stacked, platy crystals that are sharper and better developed than most Hubeite specimens you will find. It is entirely possible that among the drusy coating are microcrystals of Quartz and Calcites, but at that scale it is very difficult to tell. Likely found around 2003 and incredibly rare, material such as this outstanding and aesthetic large miniature has not been seen on the market in any frequency for years. The mine started producing specimens to the mineral market at this time, and specimens like this came out in 2003-2005, although we think they were all mined in 2003. I have been underground here past 400 meters, and it is a huge Wollastonite mine in which these minerals form at boundaries of the solid Wollastonite seam with host rock and got totally mined out as waste rock, tracing the productive veins for silicon. Inesite, for its rarity and red color both, is highly prized in China and this is more or less the provincial mineral of fame for any collector or museum in Hubei Province, of which there are large numbers of both.