Magnetite on Dolomite (hard to find material) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

Specimens from the Christie Mine are seldom available on the market. This old asbestos mine was discovered in 1905, but didn't actually start production until 1962. I've only seen a handful of Magnetites from this locality in my life, and this thumbnail specimen is a really beautiful example. A pair of razor-sharp, highly lustrous, jet-black, octahedral crystals measuring about 3.5 mm are beautifully set atop frosty white Dolomite matrix. To be fair, the Magnetites are not single octahedrons, but composite crystals showing a slightly "stepped" or layered growth. If you collect thumbnails, oxides or minerals of California, don't pass this one up, as another may not come along for a long time. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#6042). Kay was a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics. She nearly lived 100 years from April 1920 - March 2020. See the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record ( https://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/pdfs/Kay%20Robertson%20Collection.pdf ), and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017.