Worldwide Minerals
February 2008 Update

	Amethyst Scepter Specimen #W0801 Ankadilalana Mine Antananarivo Province Madagascar 2.4 x 0.6 x 0.6cm Thumbnail $45 To kick off my first update of 2008 that incorporates a multitude of specimens from all around this incredible world of ours, I've chosen a very attractive specimen of quartz var. amethyst.  Quartz being one of the most common, abundant and extremely variable specimens of the mineral world, is a species that never ceases to amaze me.  This specimen is a wonderful example of the variety of quartz specimens that mother nature produces.  It's an intact scepter with wonderful color and form. No damage. Enjoy this update and I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.  Na Zdorovie!

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	Beryl var Emerald Specimen #W0802 Muzo Mine Vasquez-Yacopi Mining District Boyaca Department Columbia 4.8 x 2.0 x 1.8cm Large Miniature $50 Here's an attractive emerald specimen from one of the best producing locals in the world. It's made up of a number of interlaced opaque emerald green xls on matrix.  Nice piece!

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	Cactus Quartz var Amethyst Specimen #W0803 Magaliesberg Mtn. Range Kwa Ndebele South Africa 5.8 x 4.2 x 2.3cm Small Cabinet $75 Here's a very nice cactus quartz piece from South Africa.  The quartz xls display a wonderful "amethyst" or purple color along with a bit of "smokiness" along the top edge of the specimen.  There are a few trivial dings here and there on the edges of the specimen, but they are only really noticeable under magnification.  A very nice specimen in my humble opinion!

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	Calcite  Specimen #W0804 Lavrion Lavrion District Mines Lavrion District Attikí Prefecture Greece 6.3 x 5.8 x 5.7cm Small Cabinet $195 Mildly Fluorescent There's a WHOLE lot going on with this specimen.  First..... It's made up of  a base matrix that is literally covered by heavily altered calcite scalenohedral and arborescent xls.  They vary from ice cube clear, to frosty white, to a ghostly pale blue color.  The ice blue color is awesome! Scattered about in many of the nooks and crevices of this specimen are small green acicular to botryoidal blobs of what I believe to malachite.  Their are a few of these "blobs" that could possibly be Cuprian Adamite or Annabergite, but I could not say for sure even under 10x magnification.  This local is known for both of these species.  There is also a small deposition of azurite xls that I just came across.  Lastly, there are a number of brownish-red or rust colored xl growths scattered about which I cannot identify.  The more I look at this specimen, the more I like it.  It is one COOL piece of Mother Nature!

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	Calcite, Pyrite & Stilbite Specimen #W0805 Rudny Kustanay Oblast Kazakhstan 7.7 x 6.7 x 2.4cm Small Cabinet $125 Mildly Fluorescent Here's another really COOL rock.  It consists of a mass of calcite xls that have been etched to reveal a underlayment of pyrite xls.  Many of the calcite xls that were not etched display "slivers" of pyrite xls, i.e. they're included with the pyrite.  The picture below this clearly shows the inclusion.  The stilbite xls are milky to brownish white and add a nice contrast to this very interesting piece.  No discernible damage.

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	Corundum (polychrome) var. Ruby Specimen #W0806 Ambahatraso Ihosy Madagascar 6.5 x 5.1 x 4.1cm Small Cabinet $250 I absolutely love the color of this ruby!  It is bi-colored or polychrome.  The xl is fully terminated, measures 1.1x0.9cm, and is undamaged.  It sits atop a metamorphic base which provides a very nice color contrast.  The xl displays a bit of geminess and did I mention the color?  WOW!