Emplectite (very rare)

Item Description

Emplectite is a very rare copper bismuth sulfosalt that is rarely available on the market as most good specimens came out of Europe many decades ago. The species actually gets it name from the Greek word "emplektos" which means entwined or interwoven, as the type material from the Tannenbaum Mine in Saxony was found mixed with Quartz crystals. This piece is also from Saxony, but rather from the Schmiedeberg area. It features small, thin, flattened (on the 010 face), metallic silvery-grey crystals of Emplectite associated with minor purple Fluorite with Quartz and Mica(?) on host rock matrix. Great quality all around, and not only is it rare to find specimens of this material on the market, but to find a cabinet sized piece with plenty of viewing areas is even harder to obtain. The piece comes with an old label from Filer's minerals in Redlands, California that refers to the Eplectite as having a purplish color, but this is probably due to a reflection or coating of Fluorite as Emplectite is always metallic.