Name: Atacamite with Quartz
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 18000 USD
Availability: InStock

Atacamite with Quartz

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This is one of the best specimens I know of for large atacamite crystals from the Lily Mine in Peru, from small production that trickled to market over a few years in the early 2000s (and I have been to the mine, as well - see Mineral Explorers on PBS television). It has intense, large green crystals to 2.6 cm long and 7 mm wide with an incredibly glassy luster! The main crystal is doubly terminated, which is almost unheard of for a crystal this size! Please note that this compares more than favorably to the best Aussie examples known, which date from the late 1800s and early 1900s - and are unavailable in any case. In fact, this is BETTER as it has luster, at a much higher quality level. There are at least three dozen other gorgeous atacamite crystals to over 1 cm that line the drusy quartz-filled vuggy area on this lovely piece. All of these atacamites are super lustrous, prismatic crystals that are at least terminated on one end. The quartz druse is developed on a powdery blue coating of chrysocolla that lines much of the vug and there is also granular massive band of rich green malachite outlines a portion of it. There is some minor damage to a few of the crystals at one peripheral edge of the piece adjacent to the malachite, otherwise in excellent condition. Dramatic, colorful and a truly significant piece for the species! This is something the likes of which we dream of, a top example of a colorful rare species, on matrix, well displayed and simply pretty on a shelf. The species is important, interesting, colorful; and anything close to this level is from over 100 years ago and already in a museum - making it one of the finest rarities in this species-focused update.