Salesite (extremely rare) (ex Josef Vajdak)

Item Description

Salesite is a VERY rare hydroxy copper iodate, which has only been reported from TWO world localities, both in Chile. Interestingly both of these localities are credited as co-type localities for Salesite. The species gets its name from Reno H. Sales who was the chief geologist for the Anaconda Mining Company in Chile. You can see small electric greenish-blue colored crystals (and partial crystals) of Salesite sitting on the host rock matrix. The crystals are small (about 1 - 2 mm), but you can see there are a few excellent examples, and they're even GEMMY to boot! We photographed the crystals with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. A rare opportunity to pick up a piece of this incredibly hard to find species that is essentially only found in one part of the world! A cool note about the Chuquicamata Mine. It is listed as the LARGEST mine in the world period, and undoubtedly the largest open pit Copper deposit extant. In its lifetime, it has produced over 31 million tons of Copper, and the reports state that another 30 million+ tons are still left in the orebody! This piece comes with a classic label from noted rare species dealer Josef Vajdak who owned Pequa Rare Minerals, which certainly increases the value in my mind. You can read Joe's biography here: http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1371