Tennantite Subgroup on Quartz

Item Description

A beautiful cabinet sized specimen, and a frankly fairly hard to find piece of these fine quality crystallized Tennantites from what used to be called the El Cobre Mine, but is more properly referred to as the Aranzazú Mine in Mexico. These Tennantites are some of the best crystallized examples from any locality in the Western Hemisphere. I will point out that that Tennantite itself is no longer a singular species, and is now defined as the Tennantite Subgroup which includes all the species Tennantite-(Cd), Tennantite-(Cu), Tennantite-(Fe), Tennantite-(Hg), Tennantite-(Ni), and Tennantite-(Zn). I can't say for certain which species is actually present on this specimen, so we're leaving it simply as Tennantite Subgroup. This is a very good quality and showy full cabinet specimen featuring sharp, well-formed, modified (cube / dodecahedron) crystals of Tennantite on white Quartz matrix. Additional minor sulfides (Chalcopyrite and Sphalerite) can be seen on the edge of the specimen. The largest Tennantite crystal measures 1.1 cm across. Please note that the labels mention the possibility of Tetrahedrite on the specimen, but I haven't seen any confirmed analysis of Tetrahedrite on these specific specimens. Good quality overall, some crystals on the periphery are contacted, but still a showy piece from this noted copper producer in central Mexico.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 1094. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information