Sphalerite (ex Brian Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

A gorgeous three-dimensional display specimen of Sphalerite from the famous locality at Dalnegorsk. This locality is one of the great modern producers of supreme sulfide display specimens, similar what various mines Peru represented in the 1970s-1980s or the Cavnic Mine in Romania during roughly the same time. Dalnegorsk like many sulfide producers, may have suffered from a bit of "overkill" because there was so much good material on the market in a short period of time, but you cannot deny the fact that these specimens are some of the best examples of their respective species ever found. This full sized cabinet specimen features gorgeous, blocky, sharp, lustrous, very well-formed, tetrahedral crystals of jet-black colored Sphalerite measuring up to 2.6 cm forming a showy and eye-catching overall piece. It's important to note that you don't really see a lot of good display quality specimens of purely Sphalerite from Dalnegorsk, but this one has the added bonus of being rather aesthetic, with a beautiful protruding "spire" of crystals flaring out of the center. Very minor Galena and Quartz is present, but this is predominantly a Sphalerite specimen. I can see a few small imperfections, but overall it's in superb shape and it's so well balanced and displays wonderfully. Great quality material, and I think these are now regarded as classics in the mineral world. From the collection of Brian Kosnar, valued at $4,000.