Welcome to the 2001 Sainte-Marie aux Mines Show!
 
 

 

Rare Minerals

At the Sainte-Marie show the buzz word was Chevkinte.  French dealer Righi Umberto brought the best examples of this rare thorium bearing species the world has ever seen - much better than those brought out by Dudley Bluwat of Mountain Minerals last February at the Tucson Show.   The specimens from this new find are a quantum leap in up terms of size and quality from what was seen at the Tucson Show.

Chevkinite from this find are found in veins of varying width.   Hence, the ability for good crystal development is rather rare as the majority of the material in the veins consists of tightly intergrown crystalline masses with very few distinct crystal faces.  There just is not enough room in the constricted veins for crystals to have room enough to develop. Only where the veins widened and where there was substantial calcite are crystals found and then only a small fraction of these have lustrous crystal faces.  The majority of the crystals have a somewhat matted luster.    This is mostly due to the presence of small schorl crystals which are growing on the surface of the crystals.  Chevkinite-Ce has the chemical formula: (Ce,La,Ca,Na,Th)4(Fe++,Mg2((Ti,Fe+++)3Si4O22.    Please note the presence of Thorium in the formula.  This is a radioactive element.  And though the amount is low they still need to be handled with care.  I also obtained some of the better pieces here from Jordi Fabre who was very tight-lipped about his sources but my sense is that Righi was the ultimate source for all of the best specimens at the show.

Also on this page are several random offerings of various rare species found at the Sainte-Marie Show.   Perhaps of greatest interest is a very fine specimen of Crichtonite from the type locality in France.

CH-1 - $2000.00 
Chevkinite-Ce
5.5 x 3 x 3 cm
Arondu, Harmosh Range
Baltistan, Pakistan
 
 

This example has been deemed one of the very top specimens of Chevkinite here at the show in terms of crystal quality and aesthetics.  It has a doubly terminated crystal and also fantastic luster which is quite rare for most of the specimens from this new find.   Jeff Scovil photographed it for his What's New in Minerals article at the Sainte-Marie Show that will appear in a future Mineralogical Record.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

CH-2 - $500.00 
Chevkinite-Ce
4.3 x 3.5 x 1.5 cm
Arondu, Harmosh Range
Baltistan, Pakistan
 
 

Single crystal fully terminated of chevkinte.  Crystals this size are considered large for this new find.   The photo on the right clearly displays the eliptical cross section habit of this species.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

CH-3 - $450.00
Chevkinite-Ce & Feldspar
4.7 x 3.6 x 1.7 cm
Arondu, Harmosh Range
Baltistan, Pakistan
 
 

Another large fully terminated crystal of chevkinite-Ce. This specimen has some small white feldspar crystals attached to one of the sides.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

CH-4 - $550.00 
Chevkinite-Ce & Feldspar
4.7 x 3.6 x 1.7 cm
Arondu, Harmosh Range
Baltistan, Pakistan
 
 

Cluster of fairly lustrous chevkinite-Ce crystals.  The largest of the cluster is 3.1 cm across.   There is also some attached feldspar and remnants of cinnamon colored sphene on the underside of the specimen.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

CH-5 - $800.00 
Chevkinite-Ce
6.6 x 6.1 x 3.7 cm
Arondu, Harmosh Range
Baltistan, Pakistan
 
 

This was the largest crystal anyone saw from the new find!  This fully terminated crystal is 4.7 cm across and it has exceptional luster for a crystal of this size.  If not for the ding on the prism face as seen on the photo on the right this would be a VERY expensive specimen!!  The display side (photo on the left) has no damage.   There was no larger crystal than this one that I am aware of from the Sainte-Marie Show...

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

CH-6 - $675.00 
Chevkinite-Ce
6.6 x 4.2 x 2.8 cm
Arondu, Harmosh Range
Baltistan, Pakistan
 
 

This specimen has the rare distinction of being displayable on both sides!  The largest crystal seen in the top photos is 2.6 cm in length.  ON the flip side are seen a few dozen terminated crystals all with very good to exceptional luster.  One crystal is in fact doubly terminated which is very rare for this species!!

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

A specimen of mostly massive chevkinite-Ce.  There are two partial crystals however including the one in the center which is nearly complete.  This is quite typical of the vast majority of the new specimens.
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John@TrinityMinerals.com

This specimen has lustrous crystal faces on both sides of it.  There is one large crystal 3 cm in length and on the flip side there is an exposed vug with very bright and lustrous crystals.  The largest crystal on this side is 2.2 cm.  There is also a rare 1.3 cm doubly terminated crystal as well. Lastly, there is some remnant cinnamon colored sphene attached to the rock and seen in the lower left photo.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

A smaller specimen with only one good crystal though there are several partial crystals.  This one has a crystal about 1 cm across.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

A very rare matrix specimen.  This rock has crystals of chevkinite-Ce to 3.2 cm.  The crystals are not too lustrous but the setting on feldspar makes for one of the few pieces with good wall rock associations.  If you look carefully you can see small schorl crystals on the feldspars.  These are also found on the surface of the chevkinite-Ce crystals.  As stated earlier these are what typically dulls the luster of the crystals. Also embedded on the bottom of the specimen are a half dozen or so partial crystals of cinnamon colored sphene.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

This is a small crystal which decided to move off of one of the other specimens somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on the return flight home... It is a fully terminatd and very lustrous crystal.  For someone looking for a nice thumbnail specimen of this rare species.... well, here you go.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

An uncommon combination from the type locality for kermesite.  Both species are oxide minerals containing antimony.  Kermesite has a sulfur atom while valentinite is strictly antimony oxide.  The sprays of valentinite are 0.6 cm across.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

Fine crystallized specimen of nagyagite with crystals to 1.3 cm across.   Small crystals of dolomite cover most of the nagyagite on this specimen and it could be removed to expose more of the crystals if desired.  Nagyagite is a very interesting gold bearing species with the formula: AuPb(Sb,Bi)Te2-3S6 - quite a diverse array of elements!

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

Crystals of valentinite to 0.6 cm in length are found in a vug on this rock.

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Very well crystallized specimen of the rare species: crichtonite with quartz .  The largest crystal is about 5 mm across.  This species is a rare earth bearing mineral with the formula: (Sr,La,Ce,Y)(Ti,Fe³⁺,Mn)21O38.  Also present are crystals of albite.  This specimen comes with an old hand written Scott Williams' label.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

Very sharply crystallized examples of stephanite are found on this specimen.   The largest crystal is 0.6 cm across.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

Very finely crystallized specimen of native tellurium intergrown with quartz crytstals.  The needle-like crystals of tellurium are about 2-3 mm in length.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

I found a dealer at the show selling a small vial with grains of this natural alloy of ruthenium, iridium and osmium.  Ruthenium and Osmium in nature are VERY rare with only 12 known mineral species containing these rare and valuable elements.  Iridium is far from abundant also with only about 25 known species containing it.

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John@TrinityMinerals.com

Click here to see the 2000 Saint-Marie aux Mines show report The Official Sainte-Marie aux Mines Show Website