Baryte

Unknown Owner

Cavnic mine in Maramureș, Romania has undoubtedly produced a lot of Baryte specimens, but these Realgar included Barytes are rare indeed. I don't honestly know when they were discovered - one dealer flits between 1950s and 1960s; 1980s; and before 2000 - but what I do know is that you rarely see them for sale or in photographs. This miniature specimen displays superb colour - an intense orange-red - indicating quite dense Realgar inclusions, and the Baryte is formed as fan-like clusters of thin bladed crystals with feather-like modifications. These crystals range from 5 mm to 16 mm in length. A lovely example of this unusual mineralogical combination from Romania.