Bournonite

Item Description

This specimen was collected in March of 2004. It hails from one of the most exciting Bolivian locality of the last 10 years. Several attractive, sharp, tabular metallic, lustrous, silvery-grey color, crystals with great form and sharp faces create this large miniature / small cabinet specimen. This one is a bit different because it has an interesting parallel crystal growth and it's on Pyrite and Quartz matrix, which is rare for most Bournonites from Machacamarca. It's a good quality piece for the locality and the material, and certainly has a lot of three-dimensional quality. It's actually in very good shape overall, and despite what might look like damage around the edges, is actually crystallized. There is really only one spot on the back/bottom of the piece that is a contact, and completely insignificant in my mind. The newer specimens from Machacamarca have created a lot of excitement, so much so that one of the best pieces was featured on the cover of the March/April 2009 Issue of the Mineralogical Record! This specimen is from the same mine. Valued at $800.