Quartz included with Stibnite

Item Description

PLEASE NOTE: These pieces were said to feature acicular "needle"-like inclusions of the rare sulfosalt, Boulangerite, and the vast majority of them were labeled as such when they first started coming out, but recent reports state that the inclusions could also be Berthierite, Jamesonite or Stibnite. It's hard to know the identity of the "needles" without analysis, and there has been some doubt about early reports from this mine that there were any bismuth-bearing sulfosalts originally. With that said, I feel like the inclusions in this piece are likely Stibnite, because the portions that are closest to the surface seem to have oxidized and potentially altered to yellow Cervantite or Stibiconite, though neither mineral has been officially reported from the Yaogangxian Mine. This piece features a robust pair of rather sharp, highly lustrous, well-formed, gemmy, colorless hexagonal crystals of Quartz with the aforementioned acicular inclusions, and no matrix. The base of the piece has a saw mark, which has been a common practice among Chinese minera dealers, in order to either make the pieces more presentable, or to simply remove a broken portion of the specimen. Overall the piece is in great shape, with only a few "flea bites" on the terminations of the Quartz crystals. A beautiful and rarely seen example from this prolific locality. Mined in the early 2000s, and not seen in any quantity for many years at this point.