Cinnabar (GEMMY crystal) (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

A FINE quality, VERY gemmy, sharp, lustrous, intense electric red trigonal prismatic crystal of Cinnabar measuring 8 mm, associated with a few smaller accessory Cinnabar crystals nicely sitting among rhombic Dolomite on matrix. You don't see to many Cinnabar crystals with this kind of glowing internal transparency, it almost resembles the same kind of explosive red hue you'd see in a top quality Proustite. They pieces are aren't as common as they once were, and this is old material from China, dating back to the 1980s Valued at $950. For reference, the Tongren Mine accounts for 50% of all the mercury deposits in China! From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman (the number 4871 can be seen on the base of the specimen). Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".