Pyrrhotite (excellent specimen) (ex Leigh Price Collection)

Item Description

Click for Specimen Video

Some of the finest crystallized examples of Pyrrhotite in the world are those from the famous Santa Eulalia Mining District in central Chihuahua, Mexico While mining has been taking place in this area for over a century, some of the best specimens were found between the 1960s-1980s. This particular specimen was mined in 1972 and formerly was in the collection of Leigh Price, who acquired it from Richard Kosnar. It features several excellent quality, very sharp, textbook, well-formed, pseudohexagonal crystals of gorgeous metallic bronze colored Pyrrhotite measuring up to 5.7 cm free of matrix. Several of the crystals are actually doubly-terminated, which is very rarely seen in this material, and I can't find any actual damage, save some roughness on the underside of the piece. Speaking of which, when you flip the specimen over, you will see some attractive crystals of lead-grey colored Galena, for a nice touch. It's important to note that Pyrrhotite has a distinct parting along the "c" (001) face of the crystals, so you'll often see pieces that look terminated, which are actually broken. That's not the case with this piece as the terminations are distinct and beautiful. What's more, the piece is very showy and three-dimensional, as the different size and shape of the crystals is combined with their wonderful arrangment to form a fantastic example of this classic material. It's honestly quite rare to find a such a scupltural and eye-catching piece of this material like this, especially without matrix. Fine quality, great aesthetics and a must have for any fan of sulfides, old classics or minerals of Mexico. We had a price tag of $3,500 on this one for the quality and the fact that it's a stellar display piece of this old classic material.