Sphalerite (sharp GEMMY crystals)

Item Description

A fantastic specimen of Sphalerite from Dzhezkazgan featuring several excellent, very sharp, notably well-formed crystals measuring up to 2.2 cm, which have a gentle iridescent luster on the surface, but when they're backlit, you can see that they are incredibly GEMMY with mixed colors ranging from golden-orange to yellow to a slight greenish hue, sitting on matrix. A couple of the crystals even show beautiful "Spinel"-twinning! No major damage that I can see, but there are a few small nicks, and the crystal on the back of the piece has a contact where it was detached from the pocket wall. Most Sphalerites are black from the majority of worldwide locality, so to find colorful gemmy crystals like this is a big deal. One of my favorite examples I've seen from the locality.  Valued at $1,800. The piece was mined in the early 1990s and comes from the collection of Richard ("Rich") A. Kosnar (1946-2007), well-known dealer and mineral collector from Colorado, and the namesake for the rare species Kosnarite. Rich acquired a good number of Russian minerals in the 1990s after the fall of Soviet Union, assembling a nice suite of Dalnegorsk specimens.