Gratonite

These rare sulfosalt minerals were found in the 1890s at this small mine high in the Andes, and remain world class and best of species for their finds. This particular miniature is one of the very few we have ever seen turn up for sale that is not a thumbnail, AND it has real matrix! Moreover, it is aesthetic — relatively — for what it is. It is complete all around 360 degrees, and has superb isolated clusters. We normally see these "pineapple" clusters as loose, but this has two on matrix, to 1.8 cm. Gratonite is a lead arsenic sulfide and Cerro de Pasco is the type locality for the species. We can't stress enough how good this gratonite miniature is in terms of the overall composition of the piece. Competition level miniature! This species, in any condition or quality, is almost never available to own (at any price).