large, Native Bismuth (very rare locality) Fioravanti Coll.

Item Description

An extremely rare and very rich native bismuth specimen from Namaqualand, South Africa. All sides host intergrown, splendent, laminated golden/silvery plates in a quartz-rich matrix. Striking and beautiful cross-hatching is visible on one crystal face, which really adds pizzazz to the display. Many faces are probably contact crystal faces, but nonetheless complete. MINDAT lists four Namaqualand native bismuth localities, with no photos given. Springbok is the capitol of Namaqualand and Giancarlo Fioravanti obtained this in a trade in Springbok in 1967 according to his label. Old-time, possibly unique material! A must for the species or locality collector. Very hefty ore for the size ata whopping 825 grams or 1.8 pounds.