Bismuth (thick crystals)

Item Description

An impressive example of native bismuth labeled as coming from the Carmen Mine in Potosi, Bolivia, but I can't find an actual listing for the locality, and I'm fairly confident it's actually from the Carmen Mine in La Paz, Bolivia. This piece is an attractive miniature featuring notably thick striated hexagonal/trigonal crystals of a lead-grey hue, free of matrix. The crystals do have a slight luster, which does not show up as well in the video as it does in person. The weight is really shocking...bismuth is HEAVY stuff as this piece weighs an impressive 136.3 grams, very dense for the size. It's also important to note that these are actual CRYSTALS of Bismuth, not platy cleavages, separation planes or "casts" after another mineral. True crystallized Bismuth is rare in the mineral world. A cool and very hard to find locality piece with good size and actual crystal faces(!) not cleavages or separation marks. Valued $1,000.