Ferberite (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

A very hard to find specimen of Ferberite from the 1980s era of mining at the Akchatau Mine in Kazakhstan. This is one of only a handful of Ferberites that we've ever had to offer from this locality. The piece is filled with many sharp, rather lustrous, jet-black, prismatic, striated, blocky crystals measuring up to 1.6 cm, associated with slightly smoky colored, gemmy, prismatic crystals of Quartz on matrix. A bit of tan Muscovite can be seen in spots for a nice touch of lighter beige contrast. The piece is in good shape, with no major damage to the chief crystals. The crystals have an almost gentle chatoyance on the surface that can be seen when the crystals are rotated in the light. If you collect Ferberite (or tungsten minerals) or specimens from the former Soviet Union, this is a good quality, rare locality specimen that would make a great addition to your collection. Valued $1,000. Please note that this specimen was originally labeled as Hübnerite, but I cannot find a confirmed report of this species coming from Akchatau.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#629 Ru), 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 over the next two to three years through our various platforms.