Quartz (''phantom'') with Arsenopyrite on Sphalerite

Item Description

The Yaogangxian Mine for many years has been a source of beautiful crystallized display specimens. This piece dates back to the early 2000s and featuring a wonderful combination of sulfides and Quartz starting with a 3.1 cm, sharp, lustrous, GEMMY, colorless prism of Quartz associated with metallic, blocky, silvery crystals of Arsenopyrite measuring up to 1.3 cm, sitting on a crystallized mound of sparkling, jet-black Sphalerite. A few smaller Quartz crystals can be seen on the back side of the piece. The top/display side of the specimen is in great shape but the underside/periphery is contacted where the piece was removed from the pocket wall. I love the way the piece sits with excellent presentation. If you look very closely, you can there is a faint "phantom" inside of the Quartz crystal, distinct once you see it, but it's very thin. A cool association specimen from what is certainly one of the premier Chinese mineral localities. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#359 C), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the coming months and years through our various platforms.