Szenicsite (TYPE LOCALITY), Molybdenite, Powellite

Item Description

It is truly amazing to discover a beautiful new mineral species in today’s world, and yet our friend Terry Szenics got one in crystals that can reach several centimeters, back in the early 90s, from his exploratory work in Chile and naming of Szenicsite. This still remains a one-locality, very rare copper molybdate , not found elsewhere in good crystals. And, they are particularly notable for the electric green color! This was the only major find of the species, and not even a trickle of good specimens followed the first few pockets collected by Terry Szenics, with all good specimens coming through him (including this one, which retains his label from when he sold them through Aurora Mineral Company at the time (in fact, I bought this from him and sold it, around 1996). The crystals are in numerous pockets, and some reach nearly 1 cm in length. Interestingly, much of the matrix is fluorescent, which leads one to realize that the greenish microcrystals are another Chilean rarity - Cuprian Powellite. Most any Szenicsite specimen is a rare bird, this is a fine display specimen for the species.