Proustite with Polybasite

Item Description

This is a lovely small cabinet sized specimen of Proustite, which is the most well-known, valuable and sought after of the few "Ruby Silver" minerals in the world. Top quality Proustite crystals feature a beautiful intense red metallic color, which is almost singular in the mineral world. This particular specimen comes from the famed Imiter Mine in Morocco, one of the great silver-producing localities in the modern era of mineral collecting. The piece is filled with dozens upon dozens of small, sharp, lustrous, rich crimson-red colored crystals of Proustite measuring up to about 3 mm, which are associated with tiny, tabular, silvery metallic pseudo-hexagonal (monoclinic) crystals of Polybasite. The label states that there is Xanthoconite on the piece, but looking closely under the microscope, I don't see it. There are some tan crystals that might be Siderite (?), but they're too pale in color to be Xanthoconite. All of the crystals are best seen under magnification, and we've photographed them with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate their quality. If you collect sulfosalts, silver-bearing minerals, "Ruby Silver" species, minerals of the Imiter Mine or you just like Proustite, don't miss out on this attractive small cabinet specimen.
Ex John Dagenais specimen #JD-405