Stibnite (large specimen)

Item Description

Here we have an remarkable large cabinet sized specimen of Stibnite, a well-known antimony sulfide species. Most people will tell you that some of the finest and largest crystals of the species ever seen are those from Wuning Mine in China. This impressive and aesthetic big display specimen hails from the 2003-2004 finds at the Wuning Mine. This piece host a predominant, good sized, heavily striated, prismatic, intense metallic silver color crystal of Stibnite, associated with a few additional Stibnite crystals, forming a very eye-catching and three-dimensional specimen One of the smaller Stibnite crystals shows a "bent" habit, which is often seen in the species, but not in many other minerals. Actually if you look closely, you can see minor bending in the larger Stibnites as well. Minor yellow alteration (Stibiconite?) can be seen on the back of the piece. There is a little bit of roughness in few spots, so the specimen is not pristine, but you just don't see crystals of this size anymore on the market, and Wuning is not producing them anymore. A large number of the Wuning pieces were just loose singles, off matrix, so a three-dimensional group like this is certainly rare. Valued $5,000.
From the Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.