CUPRITE

An excellent small cabinet specimen of Cuprite from the classic and evocative mining district of Bisbee in the Mule Mountains, Arizona, USA.  The Cuprite crystals richly pervade the upper cavernous surface of a narrow mass of gnarled Native Copper, although this is largely hidden by adhering rock and surface alteration.  The Cuprite forms in the cubic and octahedral habits, but all are built from stacked sub-millimetre Cuprite crystals of various shades of metallic crimson to electric carmine-red.  Under magnification, the crystals appear like the classic crystal models built from carefully arranged tiny wooden cubes.  An aesthetic and fascinating specimen from Bisbee with lots of crystallographic interest.