The Core of Expo Mineral Show (2)

SV2150TBY

Aesthetic specimen formed by sharp lenticular crystals of zoned brown Siderite, randomly arranged on a rock matrix totally carpeted by snow-white Quartz crystals offering a nice contrast of colors. Several brightly colored Chalcopyrite crystals, golden and very shiny, adorn the piece.
The specimen comes from the former collection of Robert-Auguste Touchon and, most surprisingly, was found in the area of some coal mines, west of La Mure, which were closed in 1997.

Le Villaret pit, Susville, Matheysine-Trièves, Grenoble, Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes France

Specimen size: 11.7 x 4.9 x 4.8 cm

Main crystal size: 1.4 x 1 cm

Former collection of Robert-Auguste Touchon

SV2120TTD

Floater group of Quartz crystals between transparent and translucent, one of them clearly dominant and very peculiar by displaying a marked twist reminiscent of a dolphin's leap.
From an alpine peak more than 2,000 meters above sea level.

Grand Châtelard Massif, Jarrier, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes France

Specimen size: 6.4 x 5.6 x 4.4 cm

Main crystal size: 6.2 x 2.1 cm

SV295TMX

Group of translucent and very lustrous Quartz crystals, one of them clearly dominant, arranged parallel to each other and oriented preferentially, flattened and doubly terminated, with a very marked longitudinal faden perpendicular to the crystal growth axis.
A typical specimen of alpine fissures.

La Lauzière Massif, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes France

Specimen size: 5.8 x 4.3 x 1.9 cm

Main crystal size: 3.1 x 2.5 cm

SV290TTX

Floater group of Azurite crystals of flattened habit forming a rosette with marked polycrystalline growths with uniform and deep blue color, all adorned by a crown of Malachite pseudomorphic after Cuprite crystals.
From the type locality for Azurite.

Chessy-les-Mines, Les Bois d'Oingt, Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes France

Specimen size: 2.3 x 2 x 0.7 cm

Type locality

SV2220TLX

Double crust formed by a covering of bluish Aurichalcite crystals completely covering a limonitic rock on which was partially deposited a large group of very fine acicular Serpierite crystals with bluish green hues.
The specimen is from the type locality for Serpierite.

Serpieri Mine, Kamariza Mines, Lavrion Mining District, Attikí (Attica) Prefecture Greece

Specimen size: 4.8 x 2.4 x 1.4 cm

Type locality

SV290TRM

Floater crystal of Cassiterite with a very distinct “tin peak” twin, with well defined and lustrous faces and edges, some of them with grooves and truncations at the vertices.
The specimen comes from a historic mining district that covered the border area between Saxony, in Germany, and Bohemia, in the current Czech Republic, exploited for tin and tungsten since the end of the Middle Ages.

Zinnwald/Cinovec, Krusné Hory Mountains, Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony/Sachsen Germany

Specimen size: 2.5 x 1.8 x 1.4 cm