Description
Detailed Description
This piece really needs a close look at the photos – in person, it is bright with a myriad of brilliant sparkling faces, and so classy! It is one of the most spectacular pieces from the John S. White quartz collection. The overall explosive form of the cluster is dramatic and the specimen is three-dimensional, with central crystals reaching towards the viewer. The quartz crystals exhibit the combined growth habits known as “candle-quartz” and “artichoke quartz”, with hundreds of small crystals aligned on larger underlying crystals. These small crystals have hundreds of tiny individual faces with bright lustre – the effect is a myriad of brilliant sparkles under display lights. In excellent condition, a few minor incomplete crystals. Small pyrite cubes and fluorite on the underside and back, and a discoidal calcite perched on the right-hand side. This is an absolute killer.
About the Shangbao Mine
The Shangbao Mine, which is nestled in a bamboo forest, was originally a small pyrite ore operation. However, commercial mining operations ended decades ago and for many years has been operated for specimens. Today the Shangbao Mine is widely regarded as one of China’s great mineral localities.
