Sphalerite with Pyrite (ex Geary Murdock and Hal Miller Collections)

Item Description

A very hard to find specimen from the Irene Mine with great provenance. This attractive cabinet sized piece hosts many sharp, lustrous, well-formed, jet-black Sphalerite ("Marmatite") crystals measuring up to 7 mm associated with striated golden metallic Pyrites on matrix. Most of the crystals are undamaged, but there is some bruising, so it's not 100% pristine. A great piece to add to sulfide suite or a collection of Colorado minerals. It should be noted that this piece was labeled as coming from the Irene Mine, which is technically the Irene Shaft of the Black Cloud Mine. This piece comes from the collection of noted field collector Geary Murdock, who found some of the finest quality Aquamarines in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36634006/geary-jack-murdock . The piece is accompanied by a label from Hal Miller formerly of Boulder, Colorado. Hal was a chemist, a well-known collector, mineral & mining enthusiast, and he actually worked on the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. Hal along with Richard Kosnar also co-wrote the "Colorado Mineral Belt" article in the "Colorado I" issue of Mineralogical Record in 1976.