Stephanite (attractive crystallization) (ex David Burgess Collection)

Item Description

Stephanite from Fresnillo is some of the finest crystallized examples of the species worldwide. People might be familiar with the brilliant, bright silvery color, metallic crystals with their stout almost "barrel"-like form. This particular piece features a type of crystallization that I honestly haven't seen from Fresnillos as the crytals have formed in fairly compressed "blades" in a semi-radial habit. The style alomst reminds me of Semseyite from Romania, but the accompanying label from Joe Vajdak clearly states it's from Fresnillo. The matrix is mostly Sphalerite and with a bit of golden Chalcopyrite mixed in. The piece is in fairly good condition, though you can see some contacts on the display side. The Stephanite clusters of crystals are still quite beautiful up close, and even though the individual crystals aren't terribly large - about 5 mm long - this is the kind of piece that fills a special spot in a collection, whether it be Mexican minerals, sulfosalts or just silver species. .From the worldwide collection of David Burgess (1951-2016). David was a prolific species collector from Newington, Connecticut, and the namesake for the extremely rare cobalt arsenate species Burgessite, which he discovered.