Monday, October 1, 2012

Orpiment

I am fascinated with gems and minerals. This is orpiment, a common monoclinic arsenic sulfide mineral, however, this specimen is gem quality. Arizona has quite a few minerals that attract collectors. Because of the huge mines all over the state, there has been a lot of interest in prospecting and there are dozens of legends of lost mines. These orpiment crystals likely came from India or China.

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