Chalcopyrite (ex Dave Bergman Collection) (Mined 1978)

Item Description

The famous Sweet Home Mine is renowned for producing some of the finest Rhodochrosite crystals in the world, but it doesn't get enough credit for producing some excellent sulfide specimens. This piece features attractive, sharp, well-formed crystals of Chalcopyrite measuring up to 1.5 cm sitting on a Quartz covered matrix and associated with cubic silvery-black Galena plus minor metallic golden Pyrite. The Chalcopyrite crystals have a dark coating on the surface of what could be Sphalerite or possibly Bornite, but you can see small exposed areas where the bright brassy Chalcopyrite shines through from underneath. One corner of the specimen features a small amount of baby pink Rhodochrosite for a nice touch. Minimal damage, but the piece is not pristine. You don't see many good Chalcopyrites on the market from this locality, and this piece is certainly a worthwhile add to any sulfide collection or a suite of Colorado / Sweet Home minerals. From the collection of legendary Colorado miner, Dave Bergman, who personally collected this specimen in the summer of 1978. Dave is now retired, but mined all over Colorado and was most famously the former the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".