Bournonite (classic locality)

Item Description

An impressive, near full cabinet sized display specimen of the wonderful and iconic Bournonites from the Les Malines District (Gard area) in France. These mines date back to the 1880s and according to the information on mindat.org, mining was finished by 1993. These Bournonites are among not only the finest examples of the species from any European locality, but anywhere in the world. It's quite rare to find such large and well-formed Bournonites on matrix like those seen on this piece, and they're all in excellent condition to boot! I can see a few minor peripheral imperfections, but overall, the VAST majority of the crystals are notably damage-free. They all show tabular form with a dark grey-black metallic appearance on the surface, which measure up to 3.5 cm across, sitting on a thin layer of matrix. Deep reddish-brown Sphalerite crystals can be seen on the underside of the piece, a sure sign that the piece is from Les Malines and not Bolivia or Peru or Mexico. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the piece is that the crystals are well-separated, not tightly intergrown as they often can be from this locality. A really choice example of these now notably hard to find, excellent Bournonites. Valued $6,000-$7,000.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2957. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information