Bournonite with Siderite on Quartz

Item Description

Bournonite is a fairly rare lead copper antimony sulfosalt, and Bolivia is one of the premier Bournonite-producing countries in the world, thanks to the Machacamarca Mine. Starting in the early 2000s, we've seen some really impressive specimens of Bournonite from this mine, in fact one piece that we sold was so good that it ended up on the cover of the May-June 2009 issue of the Mineralogical Record. This piece is a showy and aesthetic display specimen featuring attractive, sharp, metallic, silvery-grey color, tabular crystals associated with rhombic crystals of greenish-brown Siderite on grey Quartz matrix. The largest Bournonite crystal measures 3.2 cm across. This specimen is from a find in 2012 in Bolivia, and is in great shape overall from the standpoint of damage. I love the sculptural "etched" form of some of the Bournonite crystals, they are not damaged, they just have a unique crystal form. This one is much better than the majority I've handled from Machacamarca. My favorite aspect of this piece is the fact that it sits beautifully on its own without the aid of a base or clay. This piece was valued at $1,000 in the inventory.