Sphalerite coated by Chalcopyrite on Quartz

Item Description

A beautiful sulfide association specimen from Wuning Co., Jiangxi, China featuring sharp, well-formed, euhedral crystals of nearly pure black Sphalerite which have a preferential surface coating of bright golden metallic Chalcopyrite, creating a beautiful, almost chatoyant reflective quality. The largest Sphalerite measures 1.5 cm across, and they are sitting on wonderfully contrasting white Quartz matrix. There are a few tiny nicks, but overall the piece is in very good condition. For a sulfide/Quartz specimen, it's surprisingly colorful and really eye-catching.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#785 C), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms.