Siderite on Pyrite pseudomorph after Siderite with Stannite

Item Description

The Siete Suyos Mine (Seven Servants Mine) in Bolivia dates back quite some years, and it's sometimes considered to be part of the Animas Mine. It is often difficult to know where specimens are from because several mines in the area share the same vein system, which is not uncommon in Bolivia as many mines are connected underground within the same orebodies. Fortunately we, directly obtained this specimen from the miner who collected it (back around 2009), so I know for certain where it came from. I honestly have never seen any specimens from this locality before, but I was happy to purchase the pieces I obtained. This piece features a few excellent quality, sharp, gemmy, greenish-brown hexagonal crystals of Siderite measuring up to 6 mm which are sitting upon crystals of lustrous Pyrite (pseudomorphs after compressed rhombohedra of Siderite) measuring up to 2.7 cm, which are associated with minor grey crystals of the rare sulfide, Stannite. You can actually see inside of the Pyrite pseudomorph, it's partially hollow, so it's almost like a "cast" and a pseudomorph together. For Siderite, the quality is impressive for Bolivia, as I rarely have seen such sharp and gemmy crystals from any Bolivian locality (most Siderites from Bolivia have so much iron content that they're opaque and very dark brown). This find was very limited, and after the initial discovery, we never saw them again, so if you're a collector of Bolivian minerals, be sure to pick this one up.