Wolframite & Quartz. Kami Mine, Ayopaya Province, Cochabamba, Bolivia. ...

Description

Wolframite & Quartz
Kami Mine, Ayopaya Province, Cochabamba, Bolivia

"A cluster of black prismatic wolframite crystals growing with some small non descript quartz crystals. ?"
- Rock H. Currier

Notation by Alfredo Petrov: "Rock visited the Kami mine once with me. Amazing mining district on an extremely steep mountain, almost a cliff, with Tungsten mining adits distributed all the way from the freezing cold peak at well over 4,000 meters elevation, all the way down to the temperate bottom at 2,900 meters elevation. The shivering miners on top can look down and envy their brethren growing tomatoes and peaches at the bottom. This particular specimen was unique because of the square cross section and long prismatic habit of the crystals. All other Ferberites (Wolframites) from there were sort of thick tabular with an inclined termination. Rock could fool people into thinking they were Ilvaites or something else like that." Rock loved to find the unexpected and he delighted in watching people's reactions when they read the labels - their faces showing the dawning recognition that they had been had: the specimen was not from where they assumed nor was it what they assumed. He loved surprising folks with these inside jokes - and his collection is still doing that to this day.
Overall Measurements: 3.3 x 2.4 x 2.0 inches (8.5 x 6.2 x 5.0 cm)
Offered at no reserve

Provenance: RHC #6833, acquired 2000

[Scale: 1 inch, with mark at 1 cm]

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