Sphalerite with Quartz and Dolomite

Excellent individual, complex and lustrous black Sphalerite crystals to 1.5 cm are scattered over an elongated mound of milky Quartz and Dolomite crystals.  The Quartz has a bright glassy lustre and the glossy, cream saddle-shaped Dolomite crystals cover an altered limestone matrix.  Patchy overgrowths of more earthy, orange-tan Dolomite crystals give additional contrast to this high-quality specimen of the more common minerals from the Alston Moor mining district of east Cumbria, in northern England.  This cabinet specimen is accompanied with a previous German collector’s label and an ex. Department of Mineralogy, British Museum (Natural History) label (BM36006), obtained by the museum in 1864.