Description
Detailed Description
A brilliant, sparkling cabinet specimen, this one features an amazing crystal. At the centre of the piece is a 4.1 cm doubly-terminated amethyst crystal with a belt of small crystals fully ringing its centre. This mode of occurrence is very rare. It is known in a small number of other specimens from this mine, notably the one on the cover of the Ontario issue of the Mineralogical Record (March-April, 1982).
The amethyst crystals on this specimen are medium-purple, tinged and highlighted by hematite inclusions, in the classic Thunder Bay amethyst style. In excellent condition – no damage. Contacts incomplete small crystals at certain edges where this piece was removed from the rock. I note that there is a pale whitish fleck inside the featured crystal – it does not express on the surface – it is not surface damage.
This is a truly special Thunder Bay amethyst.
Browse More Thunder Bay Amethysts (click here)
About These Thunder Bay Amethysts
Amethyst from the Thunder Bay District is among the finest in North America, and specimens grace museums and private collections worldwide. The specimens in this group are truly special – they are the top quality Thunder Bay amethyst. Excellent-quality Thunder Bay amethyst is very hard to obtain, primarily because decent-sized vugs collapsed during late-stage formation and post-formation – Mother Nature has damaged the pocket contents before the first human eyes even see them. These specimens are from the collection of David Nicklin, representing the best of all specimens he and his son Ian mined at the Diamond Willow Mine over a period of over 30 years. They are absolutely remarkable for their lustre, colours and lack of damage compared to the vast majority of Thunder Bay amethysts mined over the years. This is a unique opportunity to acquire a Thunder Bay amethyst from a special lot – we don’t expect to be able to see a lot like this again in the future.
A new article is on the website:
Thunder Bay Amethyst (click here). It features lots of photos, including an image sequence of the mining process used by by David and Ian Nicklin to recover amethyst specimens at the Diamond Willow Mine.
Important Note: This lot of Thunder Bay amethyst specimens is being offered jointly with my good friend and collecting partner David Joyce (www.davidkjoyceminerals.com). Different specimens are posted on each of our websites. I hope you will enjoy seeing the ones on his site too:
click here.
