Amethyst from the Thunder Bay District is among the finest in North America, and specimens grace museums and private collections worldwide. This specimen is from a group of pieces that 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. This piece was 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. The Nicklin specimens are absolutely remarkable for their lustre, colours and lack of damage compared to the vast majority of Thunder Bay amethysts mined over the years.

An 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.