Berthierite (rare) (ex David Burgess Collection)

Item Description

Berthierite is a rare iron antimony sulfosalt and not often found in good crystallized specimens. The species has been known since 1827 and was named after Pierre Berthier a chemist from France, and mineralogist at the Ecole des Mines. The Herja Mine is the premier locality for the species, and this piece is a great example of said material. This small cabinet display specimen is a wonderful crystallized "spray" loaded with hundreds of acicular "needle"-like grey-black colored prismatic crystals free of matrix. A few bruises keep the piece from being 100% damage free, but it's still in very good condition and looks beautiful from several angles. A fine example of this classic material from the famous Herja Mine. From the worldwide collection of David Burgess (1951-2016). David was a prolific species collector from Newington, Connecticut, and the namesake for the extremely rare cobalt arsenate species Burgessite, which he discovered.