Helvine with Spessartine, Fluorite, etc. (rare association specimen) (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

The famous Wushan Spessartine Mine has produced some of the most iconic specimens from any locality in China, but there are a handful of additional species from this mine that are sought after by collectors, including Helvine. Some of the most robust and eye-catching crystals of this rare beryllium manganese silicate come from the Wushan Mine. This piece features a few sharp, well-formed, yellow to dark golden-orange colored modified tetrahedral crystals of Helvine measuring up to 1.0 cm across associated with a handful of glowing orange crystals of Spessartine Garnet with minor gemmy pastel green octahedral crystals of Fluorite with greenish-grey colored hexagonal groups of Muscovite plus Smoky Quartz on beige Microcline matrix. To have six different minerals represented on one specimen from this mine is extremely hard to find, and you almost never see Helvine with Spessartine on Fluorite like this from anywhere. There is a little bit of what appears to be surface etching on the Helvine crystals, but they're still in good shape. Very little comes out of this locality these days, so don't pass up the chance to get your hands on one of these excellent Helvine specimens with desirable associated minerals for a great price. Priced in our inventory at $4,500 retail. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.