Betekhtinite (fine rare crystals)

Item Description

The Dzhezkazgan Mine is known for producing some excellent specimens of a few sulfide species, most notably Bornite, Chalcocite and Betekhtinite. This piece was mined in the mid 1990s and is a fine example of the very rare lead copper iron sulfide, Betekhtinite. This cabinet sized piece features excellent, lustrous, dark grey colored, thin, prismatic crystals of Betekhtinite measuring up to 1.3 cm long associated with pseudo-dodecahedral (they're actually orthorhombic) crystals of dark grey Bornite (which have a slight surface alteration to Malachite{?}) associated with scalenohedral white Calcite on gemmy Quartz crytals on a thin slab of matrix. The quality is very good for the Betekhtinite and they are great to view up close. Very little damage that I can see, and a wonderful representation of this now 30 year old material that hasn't been available on the market in any capacity in many years. Priced at $950 in the inventory.