Cinnabar (RARE old locality specimen) (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

Cinnabar is hardly a species that collectors think about when it comes to minerals of Arkansas, but the short lived Gap Ridge mercury mine produced some decent specimens which date back to the 1930s-1940s. This cabinet sized specimen hosts dozens of good quality, sharp, well-formed, blood red metallic, crystals of Cinnabar measuring up to about 3 mm with associated Quartz and Dickite clay. While some of the Cinnabar crystals are contacted, there are many pristine almost "rosette"-shaped groups that are beautiful to view under magnification. We have photographed the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. If you're a fan of Cinnabar, mercury minerals, species from Arkansas, or just unusual locality specimens, do NOT miss out on this wonderful example that dates back at least 80 years! From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.