Realgar

Item Description

Lustrous, translucent, striated, red-orange realgar prisms, to 1.7 cm, are aesthetically clustered on both sides of the sculptural large quartz-rich matrix. Several prisms have hoppered terminations, adding character. This very attractive and colorful specimen is from the historic precious metal-polymetallic Baia Sprie Mine, where mining took place from the early 1300s until 2006. The mine has produced world-class realgar specimens from the 1960s until 2005, just before closing. This fine piece is probably from the late 1990s finds, with the quartz matrix. The realgar crystals are light sensitive and must be covered and protected.