Stellerite and Stilbite with Calcite

Item Description

A lovely association specimen from the famed Sokolovskoe Iron Mine in Rudny, Kazakhstan featuring beautiful golden-orange colored radiating groups of Stellerite which are sitting atop a layer of light tan colored blades of Stilbite, associated with flattened "discs" of Calcite measuring up to 2.4 cm across on matrix. Minor Pyrite is present on the piece as well. The Calcite crystals show color zoning with a silvery hue in the center that transitions into a nearly white shade on the exterior edges. This particular habit and coloring of Calcite is rare from this locality, typically they are more equant rhombs with a more glassy and transparent quality. No major damage I can find, and it's quite showy, presentable from a few angles. A really attractive piece of this now seldom seen material that was mined in the early to mid 1990s.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#394 Ru), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection through our various platforms.