Stibnite (old classic) James Carter Coll.

Item Description

Classic, old-time, shapely terminated stibnite crystals from the renowned long-closed Ichinokawa Mine of Japan. The parallel-growth, well-striated blades have typical bright silver-metallic lustre. Primary production of these lustrous, silver-gray crystals was from 1875-1900. Antimony was mined in the area from the 7th Century until the Ichinokawa Mine closed in 1957! See the 1988 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 19, No. 4. Ex Dr. James Carter Collection. James was a professor of Geology and former Department Chairman at the University of Texas at Dallas for 43 years until he retired in 2008. A true geoscientist, he studied and performed research on a remarkable variety of geological aspects. NASA asked Carter to help create a material that was similar to actual lunar regolith. The lunar regolith simulant, or fake moon dirt, he developed was used by NASA and other researchers for studies in support of future human activities on the moon. He passed away in 2019. We just acquired part of his collection. Read about James at: https://www.utdallas.edu/news/faculty-staff/carter-tribute-2019/. Considered the world's finest Stibnites until Romanian and Chinese material came to market. Even then, Japanese Stibnites are considered absolute classics and this is an excellent small cabinet example.