Veszelyite (rare)

Item Description

This is a lovely miniature sized specimen of Veszelyite, a very rare hydrated copper zinc phosphate species. There are truly only a handful of localities in the world where good crystals of Veszelyite in fine display specimens can be found. Recently there have been some excellent specimens coming out of the Dongchuan District in Yunnan, China featuring 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 the finest 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 with minor associated secondary blue and green copper minerals on matrix. I can see a bit of a sky blue colored mineral, possibly Turquoise(?), Chrysocolla(?), or Theisite(?) along with some mossy green Kipushite. The white/colorless crystals are likely Dongchhuanite, but they haven't been analyzed to know for certain. The entire group of Veszelyite crystals measures 1.1 cm at its longest dimension. 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.