Quartz with Epidote (LARGE specimen!) (ex Leigh Price Collection)

Item Description

Colorado collectors are familiar with the Calumet Mine, which lies about 10 miles north of Salida, but most people outside of the state probably haven't seen much from this locality, at least not in the last 40 years or so. This locality is best known for producing some of the best crystals of Epidote from any locality in the continental United States, which are often found in associated with fine quality Quartz crystals. This piece is arguably THE most impressive large cabinet sized Quartz specimen that I've ever seen from this old iron mine. The piece is loaded with dozens of superb, sharp, lustrous, GEMMY, slightly smoky colored, textbook hexagonal prisms which are sitting atop lustrous dark green colored crystals and pistachio green colored massive Epidote matrix. The vast majority of the Quartz crystals are in very good condition, though some of them are contacted in areas, where the piece was attached to the pocket wall. The largest Quartz crystal measures 7.1 cm long, and is actually doubly-terminated! The color, look and quality of these Quartz crystals is reminiscent of Swiss Alpine Quartz, and is about as good as I've seen from the Calumet Mine. We see less and less of this material on the market every year, and specimens like this are virtually impossible to find now. This piece comes to us from the collection of Leigh Price, noted geologist, field collector and mineral collector who lived in Evergreen, Colorado and personally collected this piece in the late 1970s. Priced at $2,000 in the inventory. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the size and weight of this specimen, an additional shipping charge will be required, so please feel free to contact us before bidding if you have any questions or concerns.