Sphalerite (GEM crystal!) (rare locality)

Item Description

There are thousands of localities for Sphalerite around the world, but gem quality material is certainly uncommon. Places like Las Manforas in Spain and the Madan area in Bulgaria come to mind for larger gem quality crystals. It's also one of the few sulfides that is found in transparent crystals, and certainly on average larger than any other gem quality sulfides. This particular specimen is rare for the simple fact that it is labeled as coming from Cananea, Mexico! While the species has been reported from a few localities around Cananea, I had never actually seen one in person prior to this specimen. What's more, the piece is nearly 100% WATER CLEAR (!) along with being amazingly well-crystallized! The display side of the specimen features broad, smooth, very well-formed crystals faces which act as windows to peer into the beautiful glowing greenish-yellow interior. When backlit, you can see large sections of "juicy" gem interior. No matrix is present, so it's just a sold piece of high quality Sphalerite. There are a few minor bruises on the front, and it's contacted / cleaved on the back, but the damage is more than forgivable in my mind as I've never seen anything like it before in terms of the locality. I think it's a remarkable specimen for what it is, and worthy of adding to any worldwide sulfide or Sphalerite suite or a collection of Mexican minerals. I would put a value on this one around $3,500-$4,000 for the sheer collector value, but it's legitmately worth more as cutting rough (though I would never condone such a crime), as I could easily see it yielding 100 carats of faceted stones that could be priced between $50-$75 per carat. You may never see another like it, and it's without question something that is next to impossible to find on the market today. Specimen weight is 96.5 grams.