Baryte on Calcite

Unknown Owner

Help improve this recordNo owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

The big septarian concretions from Elk Creek in western South Dakota produce abundant Calcite and some fossils, but yield few choice specimens hosting large, root beer colored Baryte crystals on contrasting yellow Calcite such as this one. This well composed and well balanced specimen represents one of the few cabinet pieces hosting large, undamaged and unrepaired Baryte we have seen in recent years. It has three large, saturated, root beer colored crystals of high quality measuring 6.5, 5.5 cm and 2.2 cm in length! All have steep, pristine and perfect, wedge-shaped terminations with good luster. The prism faces have abundant growth hillocks for added interest and textural complexity. Remarkably, as these form in tight concretions and are almost impossible to gently extract, this piece is not repaired. A classic and beautiful combination specimen from Elk Creek with size and balance, often seen priced much more highly by the folks currently mining the main claim there. This is from an adjacent claim and is thus much more affordable compared to the "brand name" location down the road! This locality is described in the Mineralogical Record by Campbell et al., 1987, v. 18, no. 2.