Azurite on Tetrahedrite

Unknown Owner

This famous old French locality was first worked in the early 17th century for what was called rock crystal extraction. It was operated briefly for gold, and then only worked by local prospectors for mineral specimens. The mine was completely closed up in 2005. While mostly known for its outstanding quartz, rarely seen on the market over the years are the famous azurite coated tetrahedrite samples. This current example a grouping of sharp tetrahedrite crystals to 2.8 cm across stacked beautifully with iron oxide coated crystals of quartz. In terrific condition, the tetrahedrite crystals are coated with micro crystalline blue azurite. Minor malachite present as well. In terrific condition and very rare.