Ferberite (twin) with Arsenopyrite

Item Description

I can say without fear of contradiction that the finest twinned Ferberite crystals in the world come from Tasna. This piece is a fine quality miniature that features a classic, "butterfly" twinned crystal of Ferberite showing twinning along the a (100) face. The overall quality of the twin is very good as it has well-defined, sharp faces, good luster and the classic jet-black color. The piece is associated with bladed crystals of metallic silvery-grey Arsenopyrite on a bit of matrix. No major damage, though there is a spot on the top of the twin where there is some incomplete / interrupted growth where it clearly grew up against the pocket wall. Twinned crystals from Bolivia have becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in recent years as the price of tungsten ore has driven the miners to throw all the Ferberite into the crusher, causing thousands of specimens to be lost forever. Priced in the inventory at $600. These twins are definitely the most highly sought after crystal habit from this locality, and are unlike the specimens from well known localities such as Panasqueira, Portugal and Yaogangxian, China, which are just single blades. You don't see many pieces like this one from Tasna, so if you're in the market for a twinned Ferberite, don't miss out as these are few and far between. It should be noted that Ferberite was sometimes previously referred to as "Wolframite", which was supposed to be an intermediary species between Ferberite and Hubnerite, but has since been discredited.