CHALCOSTIBITE on QUARTZ

Chalcostibite is a rather rare mineral species: a copper antimony sulphide which despite being recorded from quite a number of localities worldwide is rarely found in nicely formed crystals. In the 1990s some of the world's best crystallized Chalcostibite specimens were found at Cavnic, in Maramureș county, Romania in the Boldut mine and in Cavnic mine too. This excellent large miniature specimen from David Hardman's collection displays the classic vuggy white 'needle' Quartz matrix upon which small, 1 to 2 mm long, well-formed, dark grey bladed Chalcostibite form clusters to 5 mm across within cavities with a little golden Chalcopyrite in association too. These are nowhere near as large as the world's best Chalcostibite crystals from France and Morocco, but these are extremely well-formed and look superb under magnification.