Cuprite var: Chalcotrichite (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

A notably hard to find specimen of Chalcotrichite (the fibrous / acicular variety of the copper sulfide Cuprite) from Redruth, Cornwall, England. I can't remember having another example of this material to offer in the auctions prior to this one. Patches of matted, sparkling, metallic, crimson colored "needles" of Chalcotrichite in a lattice-like growth intersecting at 90-degree angles on the underlying oxidized Quartz matrix. Minor green Malachite is visible on the piece for a nice touch. An attractive example of this fairly obscure material, at least specifically from Redruth.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#101 E), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection for the foreseeable future through our various platforms.