Peru Update #2: Mixed Minerals

A selection of minerals from Peru. It has been a few years since my last trip there, I used to go annually but many of the mines best known for producing specimens have since closed— Uchucchacua, Pachapaqi, Huaron, Morococha, Casapalca, Quiruvilca, etc.  On this trip, I mainly expected to find pyrite (and I was not disappointed!) but I also managed to bring back a number of other minerals as well— some new, and others held back in the inventories of local friends.  A particular bright spot in the Peruvian specimen industry has come from small scale artisanal miners who enter some of old localities to search for minerals. Although, the number of places where this is possible is limited.

As a side note, I would like to take a moment to mention someone. This trip felt somewhat different, as in the past I had always spent a lot of time with a good friend- Jorge Luis Rojas (jlminerals on Ebay). A number of you likely purchased specimens from him on Ebay; his eye for minerals and his photography skills were unsurpassed among the Peruvian dealers.  In fact he was one of the main photographers for the “Peru: Paradise of Minerals” book.  If you did not buy from him directly, but you bought a Peruvian mineral from me or anyone selling (then) “current production” in the early 2000’s, you probably have something that passed through his hands. He passed away in August of 2020 when the COVID epidemic hit Lima.  I just wanted to take a moment to mention him, when I was still in college and on one of my first buying trips, he helped teach me the ropes of exportation and many small details that I have used on almost every one of my trips since, regardless of the country.  He was always just a really good person who never hesitated to help anyone and who could put business aside and just “be normal” once the monetary part the interaction was done—  as simple as that sounds, it’s actually quite special.