Sphalerite with Quartz, Galena and Calcite on Pyrrhotite

Jeepers creepers! What an amazing and rather stunning specimen of Sphalerite capping a horizontal base of Pyrrhotite with additions of Quartz, Galena and Calcite just for good measure! From the famous Dal'negorsk mining district in far eastern Russia, the Sphalerite forms magnificent multi-stepped jet black crystals with the brightest metallic lustre imaginable. The largest of the crystals measures approximately 4.5 x 3.5 x 3 cm, built from triangular-faced crystals and trigonal stacks with overgrowths of caramel brown Calcite (or Siderite) along with similar coloured tiny Quartz crystals. To one side of the Sphalerite is a cluster of naturally etched and melted looking Galena crystals, very much with the appearance of classic Bulgarian ‘melted’ Galena. During the etching process, some parts have become minutely stepped in descending nested contours, similar to the contoured hills of paddy fields. As if this cornucopia of minerals was not enough, the specimen sits on a horizontal 9 x 6 cm block of crystallised golden bronze Pyrrhotite, displaying stepped hexagonal crystallised faces, themselves forming contour-profiled steps and mounds. A truly superb combination of magnificently sculptured minerals with contrasting textures and lustre from Dal'negorsk in Primorsky Kray. This is one seriously good specimen!