Baryte and Marcasite (polished)

Item Description

These attractive and certainly distinctive/unique pieces date back to the 2010s. I truly cannot recall seeing anything like them from another locality. Perhaps what's most intriguing about these pieces is that they are from a copper mine in western Poland. Essentially, this piece is a polished slice of what formed as "balls" or radiating aggregates of cream to tan colored semi-amorphous Baryte, which was later coated by a secondary layer of coppery-colored Baryte and then finished off with a coating of metallic iridescent Marcasite. When these specimens are uncut, they simply look like spherical groups of Marcasite, but when they are cut open and polished, the beautiful internal Baryte formations are a pleasant surprise. It's almost like cracking open a geode, as the inner portions will yield a slightly different formations. This piece is one of the biggest polished slices we've ever had from the locality, with excellent banded/layered/botryoidal forms inside. Additionally, the lighter colored Baryte in these specimens will actually fluoresce a bright whitish-yellow color under SW UV light. Very cool, and unlike anything I can remember seeing from any locality. Specimen weight is 484 grams.