SphaleriteA difficult specimen to photograph, but the quality of the Sphalerite crystals on this specimen is better than the vast majority of Sphalerites to come out of the Eagle Mine (more properly the New Jersey Zinc Eagle Mine). Several very sharp, rather lustrous and SMOOTH Spinel twinned crystals of jet black Sphalerite are intergrown with very minor Siderite discs to create this large thumbnail sized display specimen. Were it not for the small Siderites

the fact that only one mine ever produced transparent Cassiterite is remarkable

you see an actual crystal face

It’s incomplete on the back where it came off the matrix

jet-black to golden colored

A great North American gem crystal classic

“sword”-shaped prismatic crystal of Vivianite which is associated with beautifully contrasting golden Siderite and Childrenite aggregates

This was one of the very few multi-twinned pieces from the find of these amazing specimens in June of 2010

in the hopes that there would be more

The Eagle mine is probably best known for its pyritohedral Pyrite specimens

Specimen # BOL711B05

producing over $150 Million in total metals over the course of its life

I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it is unlikely we will ever see these superb Zinkenite specimens from San Jose again