Tennantite Subgroup on Quartz (classic material)

Item Description

These specimens are some of the finest examples of crystallized Tennantite from any world locality. Technically, these are to be labeled as Tennantite Subgroup, as the specific species has been identified. For what it's worth, I've seen some of these labeled as "Tennantite-Tetrahedrite Series", which chemically is a solid solution series, and these crystals could be somewhere in between the two subgroups. This small cabinet sized piece features a plate of milky white hexagonal Quartz crystals with an almost "sugary" appearance on their surface which play host to many excellent, beautiful, well-formed, modified (trapezohedron / tetrahedron / dodecahedron) crystals of Tennantite measuring up to 1.1 cm across. Now some of the Tennantites are contacted, so the piece isn't 100% damage free, but the majority of the crystals are beautifully crystallized, including several crystals with smooth faces and steel-grey "gun metal" luster. Some of the contacted areas show a bit of underlying iridescent metallic golden Chalcopyrite. Tennantite isn't a rare species, per se, I suppose you could call it uncommon, but if you think about all of the silver / copper deposits in North America, and how many of them have reported Tennantite, I think you could say that the specimens from the El Cobre Mine are the finest from not only North America, but the Western Hemisphere. Valued $800. From the collection of Richard ("Dick") Philip Hauck formerly of Bloomfield, New Jersey and now a resident of Franklin, New Jersey. Dick is an avid collector of minerals, books, and mining memorabilia, along with being an accomplished author in the mineral world. Arguably, his greatest claim to fame is being the co-founder of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, NJ. Dick purchased the land on which the Sterling Hill Mine resides in 1988, and the museum has been running strong since.