Enargite (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

This is an impressive and fine quality example of these elusive, yet well-known Enargites from Colorado. The specimens from the Longfellow Mine were collected in the 1960s-1970s, up until the mine closed permanently, and virtually nothing is available for purchase today. They are regarded as the best Enargite specimens from the entire state. I've only hand a handful of them to offer over the years, and this is certainly one of the best examples. This robust piece is filled with sharp, well-formed, lustrous, metallic, dark steel-grey colored, striated prismatic crystals measuring up to 7 mm, sitting on sulfide-bearing matrix with off-white colored Dickite clay. Most of the crystals are in good shape, though there are some little nicks here and there. If you collect minerals of Colorado, or you're a big fan of sulfides, this is something is virtually unseen in today's market, and certainly worthwhile to add to your collection. This piece comes from the personal collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman, the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. Dave is now retired from mining, but he worked for decades in various mines underground in Colorado, as a miner, mechanic, engineer, shift boss and foreman. His biggest claim to fame is that he was the foreman and the primary person in charge of mining and specimen recovery at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado in the 1970s alongside his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar. This project what was the FIRST ever operation for specimen recovery at this historic locality. A full-page photograph of Dave can be seen mining underground at the Sweet Home in on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".