SCHORL TOURMALINE, ALBITE
Shingus Area, Gilgit Division, Pakistan
A nicely developed black Schorl crystal 1 1/8” tall and 1/2” in cross section is associated with crystallized white Albite.  The termination is low-relief pyramidal, and the prism faces are striated.  There are three distinct Albite crystals, intergrown in a group at the base of the Schorl crystal.  The largest Albite crystal is 1” X 3/4”.  A small colorless Topaz crystal section is also present at the base of the Schorl crystal and, within the Topaz, microscopic Rutile crystals can be seen with the aid of 20-30X magnification.  No rock matrix.  Additional information about this occurrence can be found in the “Mineralogical Record” magazine, Vol. 16, Sept-Oct 1985, P. 407 (special Tourmaline issue).   F. Marshall collection.
Specimen size:  1 1/8” tall, and 1 1/8” X 1” in cross section.
Order Item MI-1172              Price:  $45.00

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ARAGONITE Var. Tarnowitzite  
Tsumeb, Namibia
This attractively formed, cauliflower-like, divergent intergrowth of more than a dozen color zoned crystals is from the F. Marshall collection, purchased from Lidstrom’s Minerals, Prineville, Oregon in 1969.  Tarnowitzite is a Pb-rich variety of Aragonite with the chemical composition: (Ca,Pb)CO₃.  It was fairly easy to obtain from dealers selling Tsumeb minerals circa the 1960’s to 1970’s but, at the current time, Tarnowitzite is scarcely seen for sale.  The crystals are usually prismatic, pseudohexagonal, and color zoned from pale cream-tan color to white at the tips.   There is a small amount of contact damage on the back of the group, but it displays very nicely, as shown, mounted on a clear plexiglass base for display.  The base can be removed, if desired, by soaking the specimen in water overnight, as the glue is water soluble Elmer’s white glue.  This specimen has no matrix, and one can see a small amount of bright green crystalline Adamite Var. Cuproadamite around the base of the specimen.  UV fluorescence is very bright yellow-white under SW, and bright yellow-golden under LW.
Specimen size:  1 1/4” tall, 1 3/8” wide at the top of the group, and 3/4” diameter at the base.
Order Item MI-1151              Price:  $48.50

SILVER (native) with ERYTHRITE
Cobalt District, Coleman Township, Ontario, Canada
A fairly hefty sheet of leaf Silver is associated with small amounts of pale pink massive Erythrite, and black massive Smaltite.  No rock matrix.  From the collection of W. Scott Lewis of Hollywood, California.
Specimen size:  2 1/8” X 1 3/8” across, X up to 1/4” thick
Weight:  33.12 grams
Order Item MI-1216
Price:  $50.

OLIVINE (PERIDOT) “bomb”
Mount Shadwell Quarry, Mortlake, Moyne Shire, Victoria, Australia
Formed about 25,000 years ago, the Mount Shadwell volcano is believed to have last erupted about 5,000 years ago. The large ejected rocks are called volcanic bombs. They are often egg shaped because they cooled into oblong shapes as they were being thrown through the air.  It would have been an amazing sight to witness the volcanic eruption that ejected these treasures – Olivine “bombs” filled with bright yellow-green, glassy, crystalline Olivine, also known as Peridot.  The exterior of this specimen is coated with black-gray volcanic scoria, a form of lava with numerous tiny gas pockets incorporated.
Specimen size:  2 3/4” X 2” in cross section, 2 5/8” long
Order item MI-1606
Price:  $60.00 SOLD

MIMETITE (casts after CERUSSITE)
Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Namibia
The two rounded,  “Mickey Mouse” ears at the top of this specimen, as oriented in the accompanying photo, are 1/2” X 1/2” partially hollow casts which were formed around sixling crystals of Cerussite.  The Cerussite then went back into solution, leaving the Mimetite casts after the Cerussite crystals.   The specimen is wholly composed of light yellow needles of Mimetite, with very small amounts of Limonite.  Mimetite replacing Cerussite is noted in the table of pseudomorphs reported from Tsumeb.  See P. 107 of the Tsumeb issue of the “Mineralogical Record”, Vol. 8, No. 3 (May-June 1977).  This specimen is from the F. Marshall collection, originally purchased from Lidstrom’s Minerals, Prineville, Oregon, 1969.
Specimen size:  1 1/4” wide, 1 1/8” tall, and 3/4” thick                                                                            
Order Item MI-1155              Price:  $45.00

ELBAITE TOURMALINE
Cruzeiro Mine, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Another very nice specimen from the Steve and Clara Smale collection, this single crystal is color zoned with an intense transparent cranberry red color termination (the top 5 mm of the crystal), grading abruptly to transparent light pink.  The very sharp, flat-top termination is slightly beveled on three edges.  Excellent large “thumbnail” size specimen for competitive display.
Specimen size:  1 1/8” tall, 5/8” wide, 3/8” thick  10.44 grams
Order Item MI-1167              Price:  $150.00

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DIAMOND 
 Premier Mine, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa
These octahedral crystal specimens were hand picked for their interesting form, as well as their external perfection.  Obviously, if they were gem quality we could not offer them for such low prices per carat.  Natural Diamond crystals are seldom available on the market for mineral collectors, so this is an excellent opportunity to add one of these native elements, in crystal form, to your mineral collection.  Well-developed trigonal faces are present on all faces of both crystals.  Both specimens are fluorescent weak blue-white under SW UV, and medium blue-white under LW.  No phosphorescence was noted.  For background information on Diamonds from the Premier Mine, see the Jan-Feb 2004 issue of the “Mineralogical Record” magazine, P. 24-25 (Diamonds & Gold special issue).  

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DRAVITE TOURMALINE
Yinnietharra, W.A., Australia
There are actually two colors of crystallized Dravite from the Yinnietharra deposit – brown, and black.  For many years it was thought that the black crystals were Schorl, and that the brown, equantly developed crystals were Dravite.  Researchers reported in the “Mineralogical Record”, March-April 1977, P. 104-107 that both the brown and black crystals from this deposit are indeed ferroan Dravite.  The two specimens available here are from the F. Marshall collection.  Each is an equantly developed, double terminated single crystal without matrix.   The brown Dravite crystals from Yinnietharra  were formed within a Phlogopite-Plagioclase schist and, typical of the occurrence, they have tiny bits of Phlogopite attached to some of the crystal faces.  In some places the development of the crystal faces was hampered by the presence of Phlogopite.  This can be seen on the specimens as rough areas where small bits of Phlogopite are present, adhering to the Dravite crystal faces, or where small amounts of the crystal faces are not present where the crystals grew up against the Phlogopite.

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