Pyrite with Calcite and Sphalerite

Unknown Owner

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The Huanzala Mine of Peru has arguably produced the world's finest Pyrite specimens and this cabinet piece is an outstanding example of a somewhat rarer style. Mirror-bright, brass-yellow, intergrown Pyrite octahedrons cover much of this sculptural, undulating and contrasting piece. On the left side and around the back, a coating of red-gray Sphalerite overlain by a stark white Calcite coating covers some of the Pyrite. The mirror-bright Pyrite crystals range in size from a few millimeters up to 2 cm on edge. The textbook form, intense luster and color contrast are superb. The piece is nearly pristine except for the contacting at the bottom and part of the back where it was removed from the pocket. Classic Huanzala material! Specimens of this quality came out in the 1970s and 1980s, but they did not have the luster of this specimen, from a small pocket found in 2019. Superb, sparkling, and the top luster possible on a pyrite.