Stellerite and Chabazite

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.

A gorgeous orange Stellerite ball is adroitly set on a contrasting piece of sparkling, light gray matrix from 1990s finds in Kazakhstan. You never see these on the market today! The Stellerite ball measures 3 cm across at its maximum and is a rich, light orange-peach color that has a radial divergent structure that can be seen on the undersides of the grouping. The outer portion of the sphere is essentially all Stellerite terminations that glisten with any incident light. If the Stellerite resembles a Stilbite ball it's because it is in the Stilbite sub-group of Zeolites. For contrast and association, pink-peach pseudo-rhombs of Chabazite (probably Chabazite-Ca) between 0.3 and 1 cm are found around the base of the Stellerite ball, and one is stuck on the side. This is an excellent and showy example from this locality and good ones like this are very difficult to find. Ex. R. D. Mushlitz collection. Interestingly, he bought it from me in the 1990s and it carries my own old label from a very specific time, 1995-6, with it. Mush was an early customer on the internet and specialized in superb display specimens of unusual species, patronizing the lot of us in the very early days when there were only 5-6 web mineral dealers with such things. This piece, I myself acquired from the Fersman Museum of Moscow in a large deal in 1994, when I bought 1000 pieces out of their storage of extra materials.