Stibnite with Marcasite (Mined: 1980s)

Item Description

This piece is a classic example of these wonderful, showy and certainly hard to find crystallized specimen of Stibnite from a discovery in the early 1980s at the Salvadora Mine in Bolivia. This discovery produced some very impressive examples of Stibnite, arguably the best ever seen in the history of Bolivian mineral collecting. It's important for context to keep in mind that these pieces preceded the big discovery at the Wuning Mine in China about 20 years ago, so they made a big splash when they hit the market, as they were some of the best Stibnites found in a long time. This piece a group several prismatic, highly lustrous, sharp, silvery sword shaped Stibnite crystals which are overgrown by tiny secondary attractive "sprays", associated with brassy spherical groups of Marcasite. Fine condition overall, and showy with good quality crystals. Valued $950.
From the collection of the well-known mineral dealer Richard ("Rich") A. Kosnar (1946-2007). Rich was born in New Jersey, but spent most of his life in Colorado, and was the namesake for the phosphate Kosnarite (a rare honor for a mineral dealer). Rich personally imported all of the great Stibnites from the Salvadora Mine in the 1980s.