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BOXED THUMBNAIL SIZE SPECIMENS

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RUTILE paramorph BROOKITE Jones Farm, Magnet Cove, Hot Springs County, Arkansas These paramorphs (a pseudomorph that was caused by a phase transformation, with the same composition as the original crystal) are REALLY RARE! To find them in this quality is even RARER!. The March/April 1999 issue of "Rocks and Minerals" magazine article by Mike Howard discusses these paramorphs in detail. BT-11: Price $25.00	ACANTHITE with APOPHYLITTE Falla De Cubo Torres Mine, Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico Very Nice, with Apophyllite Crystals on side and back surface. Acanthite is generally a very valuable mineral specimen, due mostly to the high silver content and the rarity of good crystals. Acanthite is often confused with the name argentite and it is no wonder. Several mineral guides interchange the names or combine the names. But the proper mineral name when referring to Ag2S at room temperatures is acanthite. Argentite is a name applied to one polymorph (meaning many shapes) of Ag2S. Acanthite and argentite have the same chemistry , Ag2S, but different structures. Argentite has an isometric structure and is only stable at temperatures above 173 degrees Celsius and if cooling from a melt, will form isometric crystals such as cubes, octahedrons and dodecahedrons. Upon cooling to below 173 degrees Celsius, argentite transforms from its isometric structure to the monoclinic structure of acanthite. BT-13: Price $80.00	RUTILE Diamantina, Mina Gerais, Brazil Very nice, clean, Rutile, with smaller ones radiating from the base - mounted in a 1 1/4" Thumbnail box. TN-655 -  $20.00
ACANTHITE San Juan de Rayas, Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico Choice, approximately 2.7 cm. x 1.7 cm. x 1.5 cm. Pyrite coated specimen of this rare, Silver Sulfide (Ag2S) from a classic locale. nicely mounted in a thumbnail box. Acanthite is generally a very valuable mineral specimen, due mostly to the high silver content and the rarity of good crystals. Acanthite is often confused with the name argentite and it is no wonder. Several mineral guides interchange the names or combine the names. But the proper mineral name when referring to Ag2S at room temperatures is acanthite. Argentite is a name applied to one polymorph (meaning many shapes) of Ag2S. Acanthite and argentite have the same chemistry , Ag2S, but different structures. Argentite has an isometric structure and is only stable at temperatures above 173 degrees Celsius and if cooling from a melt, will form isometric crystals such as cubes, octahedrons and dodecahedrons. Upon cooling to below 173 degrees Celsius, argentite transforms from its isometric structure to the monoclinic structure of acanthite. BT-07  - $100.00	ELBAITE Mt. Mica, Oxford County, Maine This is One of the Classic Locales in Maine Mineral History. Analysis of some of the Mt Mica crystals indicates they have a black cap of Foitite similar to the black Foitite ( [][Fe2 (Al,Fe)]Al6(BO3 )3[Si6O18](OH)3(OH) ) cap on Elbaite-Rossmanite from Elba, Italy. The region on the crystal under the black foitite cap is where Rossmanite ([ ]LiAl2Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)4 ) occurs at both localities. BT-08 - $80.00	TOURMALINE Cryo-Genie Mine, San Diego County, California This is a very fine 2.2 centimeter, nicely terminated, tourmaline crystal mounted in a thumbnail box. BT-04 - $20.00
PYRARGYRITE Proana Mine, Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico Choice, approximately 2.0 cm. x 2.0 cm. x 2.0 cm. specimen of this rare, Silver Antimony Sulfide (Ag3SbS3) from a classic locale. nicely mounted in a thumbnail box. Discovered in the 1550's, Fresnillo remained a relatively unremarkable silver district for over 470 years. In the mid-1970's, however, exploratory drilling revealed a hidden system of fabulously rich veins of solid pyrargyrite, acanthite, stephanite and polybasite. During the last decade, Fresnillo has become one of the world's great silver districts. BT-06 - $100.00