Austrian Alps: Minerals from alpine clefts and ore deposits
17-001 - Quartz Scepter - 2.800 €
Gjaidtroghöhe, Gr. Fleisstal, Carinthia, Austria
Size: 25 x 17 x 15 cm
Impressive quartz scepter with a 13 cm head towering above a group of regular rock crystals. The scepter is developed 360° and in very good condition. A major piece by alpine standards. Found by Reinhold Plaickner (Ahrntal) in 2008 on the north face of Gjaidtroghöhe mountain. Comes with custom acrylic base.
20-010 - Hessonit & Clinochlore - 180 €
Schwarze Wand, Hollersbachtal, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 5.5 x 5.5 x 2.5 cm
Hessonite garnets up to 6 mm between clinochlore aggregates. Good luster and color saturation.
16-077 - Smoky Quartz - 800 €
Trömmernscharte, Alteck, Gr. Zirknitztal, Carinthia, Austria
Size: 23.5 x 7 x 6.5 cm
Large smoky quartz with good luster and clarity. One rhombohedral face is polished. Found by Werner Hoffmann and Thomas Wabnig (Napplach) in 2000 - a picture of the finders in the cleft is published in extraLapis 38 "Kärnten". A similar smoky quartz single crystal from the find is on public display in the noted collection of Sepp Kirchler (Mineralienmuseum Kirchler, Ahrntal). Ex Oliver Konczer collection.
18-012 - Fluorite - 400 €
Steinbruch (quarry) Mauterndorf, Twenger Au, Taurachertal, Lungau, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 53 x 43 x 41 mm
Rather rare material from a limited find in 2015, when an isolated fluorite vein was found in the gravel quarry of Mauterndorf. While there came a bunch of heavily etched fluorites on the market, the specimen on hand is one of the very few pieces with well preserved cubical faces and distinct color zoning. The fluorite shows green-turquoise to slight purple colors when lit with daylight or a 6500K-LED, and pink-reddish color tones under yellow illumination with a classic light bulb. Seldom opportunity to get a significant specimen of this find, no more material is expected to follow since the fluorite vein has been excavated in the meantime.
16-066 - Quartz - 80 €
Grieswies, Hüttwinkl Tal, Rauris, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 16 x 8 x 8 cm
Densely packed group of rock crystals, crystallized on all sides and partially developed doubly terminated. The bottom side carries some limonite and pericline. Found by the noted collector Herbert Grabmayer.
RM-1775 - Fluorite - 400 €
Hirschau, Böckstein, Gasteinertal, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 22.5 x 18 x 6 cm
Weight: 2480 g
Rich specimen from the Hirschau quarry. Cluster of green fluorite octahedra up to 22 mm edge length with some white stilbite coating. No significant damage.
RM-1918 - Wulfenite - 160 €
Grube Stefanie, Bad Bleiberg, Carinthia, Austria
Size: 5.5 x 4.5 x 4 cm
Weight: 51 g
Lustrous wulfenite crystals up to 13 mm size, a classic Bleiberg specimen. There are some tiny contacts.
Titanite - sold
Kristallwand, Frosnitztal, Osttirol, Austria
Size: 4.5 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm
Freestanding titanite crystals of intense cognac-orange color on paragneiss matrix. The exposed main crystal measures 14 mm. No significant damage.
Skeletonized Rock Crystal - sold
Wildenkogel, Venediger, Osttirol, Austria
Size: 7 × 3.2 × 3 cm
Skeletonized rock crystal with good luster and clarity. Some abrasion near the tip, though not very eye-catching. Found by the renowned Austrian collector Obkircher Gottlieb.
Fluorite & Rock Crystal - sold
Schwarze Wand, Tauerntal, Mallnitz, Carinthia, Austria
Size: 4.5 x 3.2 x 1.8 cm
Floater piece from a renowned alpine fluorite cleft worked by Rudolf Hasler in 1998 and 2013 (cf. Lapis 03/2014). Nicely balanced specimen in paragenesis with mostly clear and lustrous rock crystals. The fluorite octahedra measure up to 11 mm on edge. The second fluorite generation grown in rhombic dodecahedral habit with ink-blue color accents is the unique feature of this particular find. The specimen is in excellent condition, free of significant damage.
Fluorite & Rock Crystal - sold
Schwarze Wand, Tauerntal, Mallnitz, Carinthia, Austria
Size: 5.5 x 4 x 3.5 cm
Floater piece from a renowned alpine fluorite cleft worked by Rudolf Hasler in 1998 and 2013 (cf. Lapis 03/2014). Nicely balanced specimen in paragenesis with mostly clear and lustrous rock crystals. The main fluorite octahedron measures 15 mm on edge. The octahedron at the bottom also carries the ink-blue second fluorite generation, which the Bockriegel specimen are famous for. The specimen is in excellent condition, there are some rehealed ruptures among the quartz needles but hardly any fresh fracture surface.
Massive rock crystal from a famous find in the dangerous north face of Eiskögele mountain, made by the Hofer brothers in summer 2003 (cf. the video documentary available on DVD from the finder). Despite a good number of huge crystals in this find, only very few were recovered without damaged crystal tips - the specimen on hand has a repair at the bottom but comes with a pristine tip! A typical feature of the crystals from this find is one dominant, elongated rhombohedral face, which is displayed distinctly by the present specimen. The prism faces show highly lustrous sections alternating with interesting etching pattern. The backside carries some siderite crust with minor calcite and few speckles of ingrown chlorite. Decent specimen from a spectacular alpine crystal find.
Fluorite & Quartz - sold
Stampflkees, Zamser Grund, Zillertal, Tirol, Austria
Size: 10.8 x 7.2 x 5.1 cm
Purple fluorite octahedra partially encrusted with a yellowish quartz layer. The specimen stems from a famous find in the 1980's from the slopes below the Stampflkees. While most of the fluorites from this find were green, the purple color of the specimen on hand is rather rare and very much sought-after among collectors.
Rock Crystal Scepter - sold
Forsterbachtal, Wörth, Rauris, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 9.5 x 4.5 x 3.5 cm
Lustrous, multifacetted quartz scepter developed as a floater specimen. The ingrown doubly terminated crystal measures 35 mm. No significant damage.
Adularia & Pericline - sold
Hoher Happ, Maurertal, Virgental, Osttirol, Austria
Size: 12.5 x 11 x 9.5 cm
Glossy adularia crystals on snow-white pericline. Some adularia crystals show signs of cleavage. Specimen from one of the best feldspar clefts of the Austrian Alps.
Fluorite with Calcite - sold
Weißeck ice cleft, Murwinkel, Lungau, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 11 x 8.5 x 5.5 cm
Group of parqueted fluorite cubes accompanied by two intergrown calcite scalenohedra. Unlike many specimen from the famous summit cleft, the fluorites from the ice cleft in the north face generally exhibit very good luster. The present exemplar exhibits zonar colouring with deep purple bodies and colorless edges. The fluorites measure up to 2 cm, the calcites up to 3 cm. No significant damage, the backside was on the rock.
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