Baryte with Chalcopyrite

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This quite large and pretty aggregated bladed Baryte specimen with an attractive dusting of golden Chalcopyrite comes from the Bäuerin mine at Annaberg-Buchholz, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany which can trace its roots back to the 16th century as a silver mine, later diversifying into cobalt and nickel and continuing operations intermittently until 1880. Later still, in 1947, it began producing uranium ores but has been closed for many years. Pale pink in colour and with Chalcopyrite as fine inclusions and larger (but still only mm-scale) individual crystals perched on the surface, the tabular to bladed Baryte crystals make a really showy display of mostly freestanding crystals. Baryte specimens of this form appear to have been obtained by collectors from the old mine workings during the early 21st century which might explain why it is such high quality. Ex Hettrich Collection.