Cinnabar on Quartz

Item Description

Metallic luster wine-red penetration-twinned cinnabar crystals richly and attractively clustered on the the sculptural miniature matrix covered with starkly contrasting small quartz points. Broken crystals reveal the beautiful, rich cherry-red color of the the interiors, especially under bright light. Mercury ore mining at the deposit began in 1886 and ceased in the late 1990s (MINDAT) so this is an extinct location and has not been mined since the 1990s. Mineral specimens, in general, are rare from the Sofiya Mine or for that matter anywhere in Europe. Matrix cinnabar and quartz specimens of this quality would be fine, even from China where they are common, but look different in style. We have only ever seen a few of these for sale (this one is from old dealer stock of Jordi Fabre).