Mixed Minerals from China!

An excellent fluorite crystal from Yaogangxian—this one has inky blue cores at the center of a pair of lustrous cubes.  The color saturation on this one is especially good—the cores are dark but the color difuses out in a way that makes the specimen a very pleasant blue overall. I bought this one at the Chenzhou show, being so close to Yaogangxian there was obviously quite a bit of fluorite from there available, but this one just popped out among all the others that surrounded it-- the usual mix of pale pastel purples, blues, and those somewhere in between. The given dimensions are edges-- diagonal is 3.7 cm.

China’s Zhejiang province is home to some of the world’s largest fluorite reserves, most if it is mined for commercial purposes, and while specimens of nondescript green/purple fluorite are plentiful, from time to time it does produce some rather special habits, and I would say that this habit from about 1.5 years ago definitely qualifies as one of them. This piece consists of two hemispherical aggregates of yellow fluorite on an earlier generation of nicely contrasting purple fluorite.  There is a flattish portion on the left side of the left-hand cluster where it seems to ave grown against something else.  Still, I thought this was a particualrly well balanced miniature, combining exceptional form with good color—a lot of these didn't have quite this degree of color saturation.

A great azurite specimen from Guangdong. This is one of those older radiating, flower-like aggregates that used to be quite abundant 20+ years ago, though which largely seem to have disappeared. I thought this one one was particularly special because it has a little malachite stem, combined with a good arrangement of bright (by the standards of these things) sharp crystals.. A couple spots of damage (mainly on the back, also pictured) but almost nothing obvious on the front—and again the form is quite exceptional, with a good luster too. 

A beautiful light aqua blue fluorite crystal fro Yaogangxian.  This one has very sharp edges, good transparency, and a purple cubic core. The given dimensions are the maximum measurements, the edge is 3.6 cm. 

A large genthelvite crystal from the Huanggang Mine.  Genthelvite is the zinc rich member of the helvite group, prior to these discoveries at Huanggang, this species relatively unobtainable, except for tiny crystals from Mont St. Hailaire or some near one-offs from places like Pakistan.  The discoveries at Huanggang put them within the reach of more collectors, and what is more, the crystals were of decent size.  This is a sharp cluster of large crystals- even by the standards of Huanggang this would be considered on the larger side. It is worth noting that while these are still available on the market, mineral specimen production from Huanggang has near stopped.

From a recent find near Gongcheng.  These have been coming out intermittently for about 10 years, with numerous different habits discovered during that time. My favorites are actually not the big crystals that came out initially—due to their etching. I prefer the smaller ones with sharper crystals and good blue color.  I purchased a some of this material shortly after it came down from the mountain, I picked a few that I particularly liked from one reason or another— good composition, sharp crystals, good blue color.  This one has a good pocket nicely nestled in a curved, mitten-like matrix. 

Not Chinese, but I thought it was a good example of this abundant material. I went to a warehouse specializing in imported Congolese material, most of the material was rough malachite for carving, though there were also assorted copper belt specimens mixed in—I thought this pair of parallel stalactites had a particularly good form.  Matte luster, and you can see the concentric circles on the base-- lest there be any doubts as to its origins. It would look especially good on a custom base.

A nice specimen of the recent “matcha” pyromorphite from one of the small mines in the hills surrounding Gongcheng. Pyromorphite was first discovered in this area around 1999 and in the years since there have been numerous pockets and habits discovered at various artisanal diggings. These are probably one of the more distinctive habits, both for their somewhat different color (I've seen them described as “matcha”, but this would be pretty crappy matcha!) and the crisp hoppering of the crystals. Priced somewhat cheaper than what I’ve seen elsewhere.

A nice specimen of the recent “matcha” pyromorphite from one of the small mines in the hills surrounding Gongcheng. Pyromorphite was first discovered in this area around 1999 and in the years since there have been numerous pockets and habits discovered at various artisanal diggings. These are probably one of the more distinctive habits, both for their somewhat different color (I've seen them described as “matcha”, but this would be pretty crappy matcha!) and the crisp hoppering of the crystals. Priced somewhat cheaper than what I’ve seen elsewhere.

A beautiful combination specimen of fluorite with quartz and an overgrowth of small tabular calcites. Some the quartz crystals are sheared on the back with some sawing, but displays well from multiple angles, as shown. 

A very sharp ferberite crystal from the Yaogangxian Mine.  I liked the extra pointiness of this one—they often have more flat terminations. I also liked that it has that quartz point attached, adding a bit of extra contrast and refinement to what would otherwise be a more monotonous black crystal.

A terminated quartz crystal, with numerous dark scheelite octahedrons clinging to its sides. A bit of damage on one of the top edges of the quartz, but not easily visible.

A very unusual fluorite from finds apparently made several years ago, and I can’t say I’ve see another Chinese fluorite like this. It is a group of very pale yellow cubes with brownish cores, on a quartz matrix.  Normally I would say that a fluorite is special for its color saturation, but this is oddly the opposite—it is so desaturalted and pale, while still having phantoms and a bit of yellow (which makes it a bit more unusual, on the abundance scale of Chinese fluorite colors) that it was seemingly unique enough to post here.

Yaogangxian continues to be one of the bright spots in Chinese specimen production, as a larger ore mine it has largely escaped the regulations that have forced many smaller specimen producing operations to close. Specimens from this mine have been fairly abundant since the 90’s, though apatite has always been something of a rarity from here. These come from a small discovery made in spring of 2023, I noticed a couple dealers with a few of these at the Chenzhou show, I bought one piece there, then was lucky to stumble across another back in Guilin.  This one has a larger crystal, associated with a cluster of light purple fluorites, and small poker chip calcites on the back. There is a lot of Yaogangxian fluorite out there, quite a bit of calcite and aresnopyrite, but again, apatite remains a rarity.

Yaogangxian continues to be one of the bright spots in Chinese specimen production, as a larger ore mine it has largely escaped the regulations that have forced many smaller specimen producing operations to close. Specimens from this mine have been fairly abundant since the 90’s, though apatite has always been something of a rarity from here. These come from a small discovery made in spring of 2023, I noticed a couple dealers with a few of these at the Chenzhou show, I bought one piece there, then was lucky to stumble across another back in Guilin.  

A Chinese calcite specimen. There is no shortage of Chinese calcite, walking through the market there are two things that exist in all shapes, sizes, and with annoying abundance: random calcites and nondescript green fluorite… But I still thought this was nice enough to be worth posting.  The crystal is damage free and shows a decent degree of transparency—it was in a flat with a bunch of others, they all had some defect or another and my eye just went to this one.  I went back to the same shop a couple weeks later and the same thing happened, so I figured it it grabbed my attention twice it was good enough to buy. There is just something "crisp" about its overall sharpness and appearance. 

An unusal fluorite from Inner Mongolia, this one has a sort of “caterpillar” of blue-purple-green fluorite (yes, that weird color description is accurate) stretched out across a quartz matrix-- and complete on both ends. These sort of specimens typically have a fluorite or two perched on an elongated white quartz crystal (what people annoyingly refer to as "candle quartz), or consist clusters of such quartz/fluorite formations, but this one stood out for obvious reasons.

An unusual calcite from finds made earlier this year in the Daye area. These differ somewhat from the usual scalenohedrons that the area typically produces, in that these are somewhat flattened and hoppered.  Because of the relatively thin nature of the crystals, most were broken, or they just looked terrible. This one has two intersecting crystals nicely positioned at a slight angle relative to each other-- there were really only 2 I liked and I ended up buying the whole lot just for these.  

A nice fluorite specimen from Yaogangxian, showing an interesting purple phantom, with the purple color concentrated at 45 degree angles to both the body of the phantom as well as the main crystal itself. Dimensions given are diagonals, the maximum edge length is 2.2 cm.  Chip on the side, and contacted on the reverse-- but still displays quote beautifully, especially with the transparency an the rather intricate (for Yaogangxian) phantom. 

Kind of an unusual color for Yaogangxian.  It lacks the usual translucency but it was lying among hundreds of others with varying levels of damage, all displaying the usual light pastel purples and blues in a bunch of flats on the floor, and my eye quickly went to this one.  It has an interesting mix of blue, purple, hits of green and an area of yellow, the unusual coloration made it stand out among all the more usual Yaogangxian material surrounding it. 

A nice example of light blue/purple fluorite backed by a bit of quartz, from the Yaoganxian Mine. Not perfect, but you have to look somewhat closely to see this. 

A nice example of cubic blue-purple fluorite backed by a partial quartz crystal, from the Yaogangxian Mine. Some edge abrading present. 

An interesting find from Inner Mongolia, though one that involves a bit of creative cleaning.  Most of the quartz specimens from this discovery were just clusters of small crystals, resembling the Brazilian amethysts, but without the color.  Some however had larger quartz crystals that have been overgrown by a second generation of quartz. There was sometimes some space between the main quartz crystal and the secondary generation, and cleaning/trimming left them with these little stems.  

An interesting find from Inner Mongolia, though one that involves a bit of creative cleaning.  Most of the quartz specimens from this discovery were just clusters of small crystals, resembling the Brazilian amethysts, but without the color.  Some however had larger quartz crystals that have been overgrown by a second generation of quartz. There was sometimes some space between the main quartz crystal and the secondary generation, and cleaning/trimming left them with these little stems.  

An interesting find from Inner Mongolia, though one that involves a bit of creative cleaning.  Most of the quartz specimens from this discovery were just clusters of small crystals, resembling the Brazilian amethysts, but without the color.  Some however had larger quartz crystals that have been overgrown by a second generation of quartz. There was sometimes some space between the main quartz crystal and the secondary generation, and cleaning/trimming left them with these little stems.  

From a recent find near Gongcheng.  These have been coming out intermittently for about 10 years, with numerous different habits discovered during that time. My favorites are actually not the big crystals that came out initially—due to their etching. I prefer the smaller ones with sharper crystals and good blue color.

This one has a display face covered with relatively sharp blue hexagonal prisms

From a recent find near Gongcheng.  These have been coming out intermittently for about 10 years, with numerous different habits discovered during that time. My favorites are actually not the big crystals that came out initially—due to their etching. I prefer the smaller ones with sharper crystals and good blue color.  I purchased a large lot of this material shortly after it came down from the mountain, I picked a few that I particularly liked from one reason or another— good composition, sharp crystals, good blue color.

This one is particularly sculptural, the matrix has been trimmed in a way that leaves a couple holes in the matrix and allow light to pass through, I think it takes for a rather beautiful display. As with the others I am posting, this one also has sharp blue crystals (not the more often encountered etched type) with some areas still being primarily pyromorphite-- I find the contrast between the blue and green quite beautiful. 

A large plumbogummite specimen, this one with a. display face covered in sharp blue hexagonal prisms. 

From a recent find near Gongcheng.  These have been coming out intermittently for about 10 years, with numerous different habits discovered during that time. My favorites are actually not the big crystals that came out initially—due to their etching. I prefer the smaller ones with sharper crystals and good blue color.  I purchased a large lot of this material shortly after it came down from the mountain, I picked a few that I particularly liked from one reason or another— good composition, sharp crystals, good blue color.

A nice plumbogumite from a recent find near Gongcheng.  This one has a display face covered in blue pinacoid crystals, many with additional smaller crystals growing near their terminations. There are some sheared crystals on the right side

A group of pyromorphite crystals, in varying stages of pseudomorphing to plumbogummite, on a white quartz matrix. The presence of both green pyromorphite as well as blue plumbogummite makes for a very beautiful color contrast!

A scalenohedral calcite crystal sitting on a calcite matrix, all overgrown by some microcrystaline brownish material (maybe more calcite?). It seems like the calcite tried to retake control of the situation, resulting in an overgrowth of more lustrous, clearer calcite over the main scalenohedron.... the calcite only partially succeeded, leaving an interesting outline of the later generation calcite over the crystal. 

A very rich specimen of greenockite on matrix, with numerous powdery yellow blooms. This is one of those annoying minerals that appears in nearly every mineral guide book, though which almost never comes up for sale. Maybe it’s just too ugly, but this cadmium sulfide quite well known regardless.

This specimen comes from a recent discovery near Gongcheng, better known for its pyromorphite. The scenic green hills in the general vicinity of Yangshuo/ Gongcheng  are dotted with small artisanal mines where the workers search primarily for specimens. The government keeps closing them— this is the main reason that even the once abundant pyromorphite has slowed to a trickle. In recent months however at least one of these sites has had some luck— the “matcha” pyromorphites, the plumbogummites I am posting, and these greenockites all seem to have come from more or less the same area around Gongcheng.

For all the negative press about China’s pollution, the government is making a (much needed) push to clean things up—while the air is still quite smoggy thanks to (for the moment) loose factory regulations and coal fired power plants, in the cities about 50% of the cars on the road are EV’s, and probably 95% of the noisy gasoline mopeds that most Chinese rely on for personal transport have been replaced by quiet electric ones.  Of course, most of these ultimately rely on coal power plants, and shifting away is proving more slow and costly than can probably be afforded at the moment, despite inroads by renewable sources…. How is this relevant?The downside to this environmental cleanup is that the regulations around mining are also being tightened— and the effect is certainly being felt in the market here. Many of the small  mines collectively referred to as “Daoping-Yangshuo” are closed, the same seems to have been the case with the Fujian garnets and some of the once plentiful fluorites from that province,  along with the autunites, etc… It seems that the bulk of minerals these days are coming from large ore mines like Yaogangxian or Yindu, with many of the smaller artisanal producers being quickly closed down across the country-- though not before they produce some specimens. 

This has been stabilized.

A rich specimen of greenockite on matrix, with numerous powdery yellow blooms. This is one of those annoying minerals that appears in nearly every mineral guide book, though which almost never comes up for sale. Maybe it’s just too ugly, but this cadmium sulfide quite well known regardless.

This specimen comes from a recent discovery near Gongcheng, better known for its pyromorphite. The scenic green hills in the general vicinity of Yangshuo/ Gongcheng  are dotted with small artisanal mines where the workers search primarily for specimens. The government keeps closing them— this is the main reason that even the once abundant pyromorphite has slowed to a trickle. In recent months however at least one of these sites has had some luck— the “matcha” pyromorphites, the plumbogummites I am posting, and these greenockites all seem to have come from more or less the same area around Gongcheng.

A rich specimen of greenockite on matrix, with numerous powdery yellow blooms. This is one of those annoying minerals that appears in nearly every mineral guide book, though which almost never comes up for sale. Maybe it’s just too ugly, but this cadmium sulfide quite well known regardless.

This specimen comes from a recent discovery near Gongcheng, better known for its pyromorphite. The scenic green hills in the general vicinity of Yangshuo/ Gongcheng  are dotted with small artisanal mines where the workers search primarily for specimens. The government keeps closing them— this is the main reason that even the once abundant pyromorphite has slowed to a trickle. In recent months however at least one of these sites has had some luck— the “matcha” pyromorphites, the plumbogummites I am posting, and these greenockites all seem to have come from more or less the same area around Gongcheng.

A rich specimen of greenockite on matrix, with numerous powdery yellow blooms. This is one of those annoying minerals that appears in nearly every mineral guide book, though which almost never comes up for sale. Maybe it’s just too ugly, but this cadmium sulfide quite well known regardless.

This specimen comes from a recent discovery near Gongcheng, better known for its pyromorphite. The scenic green hills in the general vicinity of Yangshuo/ Gongcheng  are dotted with small artisanal mines where the workers search primarily for specimens. The government keeps closing them— this is the main reason that even the once abundant pyromorphite has slowed to a trickle. In recent months however at least one of these sites has had some luck— the “matcha” pyromorphites, the plumbogummites I am posting, and these greenockites all seem to have come from more or less the same area around Gongcheng.

A rich specimen of greenockite on matrix, with numerous powdery yellow blooms. This is one of those annoying minerals that appears in nearly every mineral guide book, though which almost never comes up for sale. Maybe it’s just too ugly, but this cadmium sulfide quite well known regardless.

This specimen comes from a recent discovery near Gongcheng, better known for its pyromorphite. The scenic green hills in the general vicinity of Yangshuo/ Gongcheng  are dotted with small artisanal mines where the workers search primarily for specimens. The government keeps closing them— this is the main reason that even the once abundant pyromorphite has slowed to a trickle. In recent months however at least one of these sites has had some luck— the “matcha” pyromorphites, the plumbogummites I am posting, and these greenockites all seem to have come from more or less the same area around Gongcheng.

A nice example of the new "Beijing Fluorite" that came out within the last year. This area is actually a suburb of Beijing, about 50 miles north of downtown-- interestingly enough there was an old abandoned fluorite mine that some people went into to collect specimens.  It lasted for a little while, then the authorities closed down the operation.  I thought this was a nice representative miniature from the find. 

A nice example of the new "Beijing Fluorite" that came out within the last year. This area is actually a suburb of Beijing, about 50 miles north of downtown-- interestingly enough there was an old abandoned fluorite mine that some people went into to collect specimens.  It lasted for a little while, then the authorities closed down the operation.  I thought this was a nice representative thumbnail from the find. 

A nice example of the new "Beijing Fluorite" that came out within the last year. This area is actually a suburb of Beijing, about 50 miles north of downtown-- interestingly enough there was an old abandoned fluorite mine that some people went into to collect specimens.  It lasted for a little while, then the authorities closed down the operation.  I thought this was a nice representative thumbnail from the find. 

A very nicely arranged "toenail" sized example of this fluorite habit from Huanggang-- this one has an octahedral crystal with cubic modifications and stepped faces, perched quite nicely on a white quartz crystal.  As with almost all of these, the color is not particularly nice-- you either get these weird green-purples or washed out algae color... I'm doing. terrible job making this seem desirable, but I will say that the forms and combinations are quite pleasant, despite the color-- and this one in particular has a rather well-formed and positioned fluorite. 

A nicely arranged "toenail" sized example of this fluorite habit from Huanggang-- this one has an octahedral crystal with cubic modifications and stepped faces, perched on a white quartz crystal.  As with almost all of these, the color is not particularly nice-- you either get these washed out algae colored ones, or these weird purple greens... I'm doing. terrible job making this seem desirable, but I will say that the forms and combinations are quite pleasant, despite the color-- and this one in particular has a rather well-formed and positioned fluorite.