Cuprite on Copper (old classic)

Item Description

A beautiful old classic from one of the most productive and well-known localities in the Western United States. Bisbee is famous for its copper minerals, and this piece is a nice representative specimen featuring dozens if not hundreds of small (up to about 2 mm), sharp, metallic, dark red colored crystals of Cuprite, sitting on Native Copper matrix. The Cuprite crystals are predominantly octahedral in habit, though I can see some small modifying faces here and there. The crystals looks best under magnification, and we've photographed them with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate their quality. This is an old specimen, dating back many decades, probably around the 1950s-1960s. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired from mining, but spent many years underground, including as 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"