Galena (''Spinel''-twins)

Item Description

A gorgeous and showy cabinet sized display specimen from the famous Dalnegorsk region in Russia. This particular piece dates back circa 1990s and hosts a group of sharp, highly lustrous, very well-formed, metallic bright silvery colored, compressed "Spinel"-twins of Galena measuring up to 5.2 cm across associated with minor Siderite and Quartz on the back. The piece is crystallized on all sides, and I can't find any real damage outside of the lower left corner, which it appears to have detached from the pocket wall. These are fairly rare on the market today, though once relatively easy to find 30+ years ago. Don't miss out on this excellent eye-catching specimen of this classic material. Valued at $1,500.
From the collection of Armon McPherson, a retired physicist, now living in New Mexico. Armon received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 1985, and worked at the laser laboratory at the University of Illinois at Circle Center. In the summer of 1997, Armon moved to the Argonne National Laboratory where he worked at the Advanced Photon Source, then the world’s largest synchrotron facility dedicated as an x-ray source. In 2001, he was asked to join a team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque to conduct laser research for DARPA. Finally, staying within Sandia, he transferred to the Z Facility, the world’s most powerful x-ray facility. He retired in the spring of 2017. Armon's introduction to mineral collecting came in the 1980s during graduate school when he attended his first mineral show. He took up the hobby of faceting gems, and focused his early collection on gem crystals, and later transitioned into collecting non-gem species. We are proud to offer specimens from his worldwide mineral collection here for you.