Cuprite (NEW find)

Item Description

Laos is certainly not known as a mineral specimen paradise like Brazil, the U.S., Namibia, the Alps and many others. In fact, MINDAT currently lists only 8 localities - with NO photographs. This is about to change, as we debuted an exciting find of cuprite specimens at the recent Denver Show! The specimens come from the Sepon Gold Mine, which opened in February, 2003. Sharp, highly lustrous, silvery-bright, deep wine-red cuprites are hosted in a hefty, solid, massive cuprite matrix. One vug is dominated by a sharp, large, 1.4 cm crystal, while the other side has a showy, deep cleft lined with textbook octahedrons to 8 mm. This is not a cast-off. It is an excellent representation of the find with a VERY LARGE crystal for the lot. We want our auction customers to have an early opportunity to obtain a fine piece, even before an upcoming Gallery update is offered. Different types of lighting we used to bring out the color and luster of these beauties but they do show a surficial red in any decent lighting, really. This find was actually from a single large, copper-rich, erratic boulder in this working gold mine recovered about 4-5 years ago, from which a few visiting geologists removed souvenirs. To our knowledge, other specimens have not been found, or preserved, and collecting at this time is forbidden. It is of course hard to value such a new find, from an unheard-of locale, and we have tried to do so based on cost and rarity both. Valued $750