Aragonite (Copper-bearing)

Item Description

A very attractive big cabinet sized piece of this newly mined (2021-2022) material from this isolated discovery in Afghanistan. This locality lies far to the south and west of the more traditional specimen-producing provinces like Kunar, Nuristan, Laghman and Badakhshan in Afghanistan. Aragaonite is not a mineral that people think of when it comes to Afghani minerals, and these specimens feature excellent form with a stronger than average color for the species, likely due to copper content. They are somewhat reminiscent of comparable pieces that have come from contemporary finds in Wenshan, China, but with a darker, more saturated blue color. This piece is filled with attractive radiating aggregates measuring up to 3.5 cm across, with very little matrix on the reverse side. The piece was trimmed quite nicely to give the piece balance, and a great level of presentation. There is a slight amount of translucency that can be seen when the spheres are backlit, creating an added level of charm. We first saw these pieces show up in Tucson a few years ago, and pieces like this were priced in the $3,000 range, so this is a great opportunity to pick up a showy and fine quality specimen of this new and distinctive material for a great price.