Veszelyite (fine rare crystals)

Item Description

There are certain species that truly captivating for their unique color. In my mind, Veszelyite has one of the most beautiful colors in the mineral world, with a deep intense blue shade that is rarely seen in other species. This very rare hydrated copper zinc phosphate mineral is only found in a few places on earth in fine crystallized examples that you can see with the naked eye. Recently there have been some supremely fine quality specimens coming out of Yunnan, China, with crystals as lustrous and well-formed as you will see from anywhere. Obviously the most famous specimens of Veszelyite are those from the Black Pine Mine in Montana, but I would say these Chinese examples are just as good in terms of quality and color, though not quite as big as the Philipsburg examples. This attractive specimen features beautiful, sharp, lustrous, intense blue colored, monoclinic bladed crystals of Veszelyite measuring up to 6 mm on matrix. The light blue mineral is one of two newly approved species, either Dongchuanite or Cuprodongchuanite, which are lead, zinc, {copper} phosphate minerals. For reference, the entry for both Dongchuanite and Cuprodongchuanite on mindat.org, state they have a unique combination of elements (as of the time of the posting). Very few of these are available, so if you're a fan of secondary ore minerals, rare species or material from China, don't let this one get away.