Dioptase (new find!)

Item Description

This piece was mined in January of 2019. The Mpita Mine has recently been producing some impressive and fine quality Dioptase specimens, which typically feature individual crystals sprinkled over matrix, but this new find has given us full coverages of crystals with intergrown clusters on matrix. You can almost see this piece as a Tsumeb specimen as the habit, color and matrix and quite similar. This piece features hundreds of very sharp, highly lustrous, rich emerald green trigonal Dioptase crystals measuring up to 7 mm, many of which feature stepped or multiple terminations. Also, upon close inspections there are a few spots of small brilliant orange Wulfenite crystals that can be seen, and the two species are rarely found together in nature. The most interesting aspect of the piece is that there is a partial hollow "cast" in a spherical shape which that might have formed after a botryoidal mineral like Chrysocolla or Shattuckite, or it could be the result of a gas bubble that was crystallized on the exterior. For the most part, the piece is in superb shape, but there are some contacts around the periphery. It really looks great under the microscope. The rare Wulfenite association combined with the fact that Dioptase specimens seem to be on the rise makes this a very desirable and eye-catching specimen from this exciting locality in Republic on Congo. Priced in the inventory at $650.