Mimetite

Item Description

In the first couple years of the 2000s, shocking, metallic, bright orange mimetite started coming out of China....and then stopped suddenly within a short time. This is one of those legendary mimetites, that many of us considered more beautiful than Tsumeb material (yes, a shocking admission and traitorous to some collectors of the classics!). Here, for the first time, were world class mimetites and in quantity, for normal collectors to buy and treasure! This is a fine quality with deep orange crystals, high luster, and crystal size to 1 cm. It is a nearly complete knob, very 3-dimensional, showcasing the sparkly crystals well. We have not seen specimens turn up for years and years, except a few out of old stashes. This is a fine small cabinet side piece that would have been, even at the time, valued in the thousands. Today, along with material from a find in Australia and from Tsumeb, Chinese mimetite is considered world class for the species - and unique in appearance from anywhere else.