Brilliant botryoidal hematite specimen. In the back side we observe very esthetic concentric growths of different colours, fibrous, of hematite. These pieces have been cleaned in origin with sand which eliminates the surface oxide layer to let us see these spherical forms of good size. Very curious Moroccan novelty.

From what has been analyzed, Imini pyrolusites are partially replaced by manganite. This specimen is not at all common, since it shows us shapes in sheaf that remind us the German manganite specimens. Intense black color, very defined crystalline aggregates, with some isolated crystals... An exceptionally rare sample. On baryte matrix.

Slab of native iron in mafic matrix. Specimen is tilted so reflections of sunlight make iron stand out from matrix. This iron could be refered to kamacite variety (content in Ni). It is accompanied by fayalite-forsterite and labradorite. Probably some cohenite is present in the sample. Analisys will be send to the buyer.

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These specimens of wulfenite with the chocolate brown to orange tone are very appreciated by collectors and very difficult to see today, unless they come from former collections with tradition. This specimen shows a large group of tabular crystals, very brilliant and translucent, few small nick that does not affect the aesthetics of the specimen. A classic piece.

Group of very aesthetic vivianite crystals, very good size, with excellent brightness and intense color, blue green transparencies and with iridescence. These specimens were found in levels of phosphated iron ores accompanied by other phosphates, east of the Crimean peninsula, in the well-known Kerch iron-ore deposits.

Rich group of pyromorphite crystals, of intense color with hexagonal forms in barrel. It comes from an English mine not well represented in collections. ittle is known about the early history but it was connected to the Boat Level by a shaft for drainage so was probably first worked in the early 19th Century. There is a reference to it working in 1866. In the 1960s, 7 levels by the road were being worked on a small scale for barite.

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Very curious specimen of hydroxylapophyllite-(K) formed by numerous crystals inside a geode resembling a nodule. They are accompanied by small needles of calcite very fluorescent (bluish).

A very rich anatase specimen from this classic Spanish locality. Crystals are showing a defined tetragonal bipyramidal form, with striated faces. Intense color of toasted honey, translucent and brilliant. On a quartz matrix. This sample is on the corresponding page in mindat and is one of the best I've seen, not easy to find. It comes from the Marí-García collection (Castelló, Spain) and we will send label to the buyer.

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Very rich curite specimen, with some intense orange color crystals and the rest black due to being coated by heterogenite. The sample comes from the former Coune collection and according to its owner was adquired from the 90s, but specimen could be older. Curite crystals are disposed in a very contrasted way on the white matrix. From the type locality for the species.

This is one of the fragments of the meteorite of Chelyabinsk. At 9:22 a.m. (local time) on February 15, 2013, a bright fireball was seen by numerous residents in parts of the Kurgan, Tyumen, Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk cities. This superbolide meteor descended at over 55,000 Km/h over the Ural Mountains, exploding at an altitude of 25-30 km.
These fragments are ordinary chondrite meteorites and contain 10% iron. The Chelyabinsk meteorite was later determined to come from the LL chondrite group (LL5). The majority of the stones are composed of a light-colored lithology with a typical chondritic texture. Chondrules (~63%) are readily delineated and set within a fragmental matrix. The chondrule glass is devitrified. The main phases are olivine and orthopyroxene. Rare grains of augite and clinobronzite are present. In this sample we can observe perfectly chondrules and fusion crust. Very representative and good sized sample (5.08 grams / 0.18 oz).
More info on the website of the Meteorical Society.

State/Prov/County: Chelyabinskaya oblast'  -  Date: 15 Feb 2013; 3:22 UT -  Coordinates: 54°49'N-61°07'E
Mass: >100 kg - Pieces: many - Class: LL5 - Shock stage: Moderated S4 - Weathering grade: W0

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Samples of this recent found meteorite NWA 11444, a Lunar (melt breccia) with a moderate weathering, were collected at an unknown locality, with hearsay evidence suggesting that this was somewhere in Mauritania. The sample material was purchased in 2017 by Graham Ensor from Ali El Wali. Some fragments were found on the surface, which have a dark, pitted surface colouration due to desert weathering. Other pieces were recovered from within the soil layer and are lighter in color with patches of reddish soil and relatively unpitted.
Mineral compositions and geochemistry: Pyroxenes show wide compositional variation, with both high and low Ca varieties present.
More info on the website of the Meteorical Society. A small piece of the Moon in hand...

Place of purchase: Morocco -  Date: 2017
Main mass: Graham Ensor -  Finder: Ali El Wali
Mass (g): 1323 - Pieces: about 200
Class: Lunar (melt breccia)

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The Greenlaws mine is located in Weardale, in the northern Pennines of England, south of the small town of Daddry Shield. Around we find famous mines such as Rogerly, Boltsburn or Heights... This Greenlaws mine was worked for the galena between 1840 and 1901, being one of the most important lead mines in the area. In 2009 a group of collectors started the "Greenlaws mining project". After almost 5 years digging out the vertical shaft over 80 meters (270 ft) appeared the first specimens of fluorite, ending 2013.
This specimens we propose has been extracted from vugs found in a new connecting tunnel at 270 ft, between main shaft to a second contiguous adit. Good brilliance, transparence, with geometric color zoning that varies between purple to blue according to the incident light. With defined faces and edges and these characteristic whitish internal structures. Extremely fluorescent.

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This specimen was worked from the area known as Great Limestone Flats. Crystals of good size, brightness, with intense geometric color zoning, that varies from purple to blue according to incident light. With defined faces and edges and these characteristic whitish internal structures. Accompanied by samll siderite crystals and galena. Extremely fluorescent.
The Greenlaws mine is located in Weardale, in the northern Pennines of England, south of the small town of Daddry Shield. Around we find famous mines such as Rogerly, Boltsburn or Heights... This Greenlaws mine was worked for the galena between 1840 and 1901, being one of the most important lead mines in the area. In 2009 a group of collectors started the "Greenlaws mining project". After almost 5 years digging out the vertical shaft over 80 meters (270 ft) appeared the first specimens of fluorite, ending 2013.

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The Greenlaws mine is located in Weardale, in the northern Pennines of England, south of the small town of Daddry Shield. Around we find famous mines such as Rogerly, Boltsburn or Heights... This Greenlaws mine was worked for the galena between 1840 and 1901, being one of the most important lead mines in the area. In 2009 a group of collectors started the "Greenlaws mining project". After almost 5 years digging out the vertical shaft over 80 meters (270 ft) appeared the first specimens of fluorite, ending 2013.
This specimens we propose has been extracted from vugs found in a new connecting tunnel at 270 ft, between main shaft to a second contiguous adit. Good brilliance, transparence, with geometric color zoning that varies between purple to blue according to the incident light. With defined faces and edges and these characteristic whitish internal structures. Extremely fluorescent.

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The Greenlaws mine is located in Weardale, in the northern Pennines of England, south of the small town of Daddry Shield. Around we find famous mines such as Rogerly, Boltsburn or Heights... This Greenlaws mine was worked for the galena between 1840 and 1901, being one of the most important lead mines in the area. In 2009 a group of collectors started the "Greenlaws mining project". After almost 5 years digging out the vertical shaft over 80 meters (270 ft) appeared the first specimens of fluorite, ending 2013.
This specimens we propose has been extracted from vugs found in a new connecting tunnel at 270 ft, between main shaft to a second contiguous adit. Good brilliance, transparence, with geometric color zoning that varies between purple to blue according to the incident light. With defined faces and edges and these characteristic whitish internal structures. Extremely fluorescent.

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The Greenlaws mine is located in Weardale, in the northern Pennines of England, south of the small town of Daddry Shield. Around we find famous mines such as Rogerly, Boltsburn or Heights... This Greenlaws mine was worked for the galena between 1840 and 1901, being one of the most important lead mines in the area. In 2009 a group of collectors started the "Greenlaws mining project". After almost 5 years digging out the vertical shaft over 80 meters (270 ft) appeared the first specimens of fluorite, ending 2013.
This specimens we propose has been extracted from vugs found in a new connecting tunnel at 270 ft, between main shaft to a second contiguous adit. Good brilliance, transparence, with geometric color zoning that varies between purple to blue according to the incident light. With defined faces and edges and these characteristic whitish internal structures. Extremely fluorescent.

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Rich radial aggregates of hydroboracite crystals, colorless to white, with a very intense adamatin luster. SEM-EDS analysis show the absence of sodium, with magnesium and calcium predominant. Boron can not be observed with this spectroscopic technique. Turkey is one of the largest producers of borates in the world, with reserves that surpass those of other countries such as USA, China or Russia. The borate works are located a few miles SE of Kestelek. Spectacular fluorescence yellow for hydroboracite and orange for probertite.

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Rich radial aggregates of hydroboracite crystals, colorless to white, with a very intense adamatin luster. SEM-EDS analysis show the absence of sodium, with magnesium and calcium predominant. Boron can not be observed with this spectroscopic technique. Turkey is one of the largest producers of borates in the world, with reserves that surpass those of other countries such as USA, China or Russia. The borate works are located a few miles SE of Kestelek. Spectacular fluorescence yellow for hydroboracite and orange for probertite.

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hese specimens are showing a complete pseudomorph of digenite (trigonal, Cu9S5) after pyrite (cubic, FeS2). We can see that crystals preserve the original cubic shape, with slightly curved edges and faces partially covered with greenish-colored malachite. A Spanish curiosity for pseudomorph lovers. We will send analysis to the buyer.

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Aesthetic aggregate of very sharp tabular marcasite crystals, brilliant, with very well defined faces and edges. A couple of breaks that are not easy visible, but complete in my opinion. On quartz matrix.

Specimen of a little-known locality. These sample shows aggregates of silver crystals, with an intense luster and tones between white and golden. They are disposed on a matrix with quartz and iron oxides with which they contrast.

This placer mining sample is from the Type Locality for the species. Under the loupe you can see several small nuggets of this alloy, accompanied by several black magnetite (octahedron), epidote... Awaruite is natural iron-nickel alloy with compositions within Ni3Fe-Ni2Fe range. Some of these nuggets have been analyzed by SEM-EDS and show a near perfect Fe:Ni 1:3 (see details attached).

"Awaruite was first described by Skey (1885) as constituting a sample of heavy black sand given by alluvial miners to the Government Warden of the Jackson's Bay District, South Island, New Zealand". From Skey, W. (1885), Trans. N.Z. Inst. 18:401-2.
For more info read this article related to the name...[online]
Rodgers, K.A., Hey, M.H. (1980): On the type locality and other occurrences of awaruite (FeNi3) in Westland, New Zealand. Miner. Mag. 43:647-650.

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Interesting specimen formed by several aggregates of tabular talmessite crystals, standing out on the calcite matrix. In order to confirm the species, we carried out a chemical analysis using SEM-EDS, which confirms the presence of Ca and Mg and the almost absence of Co, consistent with talmessite or wendwilsonite. On the other hand, X-ray diffraction confirms talmessite. Performing this structural (XRD) and compositional analysis (SEM-EDS) allows us to delimit the species. Spheroidal aggregates of slightly curved faces and edges. Color and luster are magnificent for the species and contrast on a base of small slightly pink crystals of calcite (Mn), on matrix. We'll send a the analysis to the buyer.

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Interesting specimen formed by several talmessite aggregates, standing out on the calcite matrix. In order to confirm the species, we carried out a chemical analysis using SEM-EDS, which confirms the presence of Ca and Mg and the almost absence of Co, consistent with talmessite or wendwilsonite. On the other hand, X-ray diffraction confirms talmessite. Performing this structural (XRD) and compositional analysis (SEM-EDS) allows us to delimit the species. Spheroidal aggregates formed by several small crystals. Color and luster are magnificent for the species and contrast on a base of slightly pink calcite (Mn). We'll send a the analysis to the buyer.

Interesting specimen formed by several aggregates of tabular talmessite crystals, standing out on the calcite matrix. In order to confirm the species, we carried out a chemical analysis using SEM-EDS, which confirms the presence of Ca and Mg and the almost absence of Co, consistent with talmessite or wendwilsonite. On the other hand, X-ray diffraction confirms talmessite. Performing this structural (XRD) and compositional analysis (SEM-EDS) allows us to delimit the species. Spheroidal aggregates of slightly curved faces and edges. Color and luster are magnificent for the species and contrast on a base of small slightly pink crystals of calcite (Mn), on matrix. We'll send a the analysis to the buyer. 

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