Baddeleyite with Cubanite

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Although first described from Sri Lanka, it is the Palabora mine in Limpopo Province, South Africa that most people associate with Baddeleyite - an extremely rare zirconium oxide. That is because Palabora mine has produced the world's finest crystals of this great rarity. These crystals are always relatively small, and often on very small pieces of matrix, which makes this miniature specimen quite unusual. It is also associated with Cubanite - a rare copper iron sulphide - and upon this specimen the Baddeleyite occurs as several discrete well-formed prismatic to bladed crystals, three of which reach 7 mm in length. Although they are embedded within the Cubanite matrix they show great overall shape and at least one crystal shows a complete termination pointing outwards. A fine, rich example of this true rarity.