Sphalerite

This gorgeous example of gemmy Sphalerite is from the world famous Lengenbach quarry at Fäld in the Binn Valley, Wallis, Switzerland. This remarkable and relatively small quarry has 171 recorded mineral species to date, of which it is type locality to no less than 48. Although Sphalerite is not one of these, it does form remarkable crystals, this example measuring to 9 mm long. The crystal nestles in a small vug of a snow white fine grained sucrosic textured Marble, a variety known as Marmor. The Sphalerite is a rich deep sherry clove brown with good translucency and patchy transparency. The prism’s habit is that of a brilliant facet-cut diamond, with a lower sloping pavilion and smaller opposing crown and a flat pinacoid termination, like the table on a facetted stone. The brilliance of lustre on all faces can only be likened that of a mirror. A fabulous Lengenbach Sphalerite.