Detailed information
Species
Covellite , Pyrite
Dimensions
82 x 73 x 39
mm
Locality
Kosaka Mine, Kosaka Akita Prefecture, Tohoku Region Honshu Island, Japan
Condition
No recorded repairs
Rich indigo-blue to iridescent red-purple Covellite forms a 'Z' shaped crystalline area displaying characteristic platy hexagonal crystals to 4 mm. This rare specimen is from Kosaka mine, Akita Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Honshu Island, Japan and is accompanied with a very early Max Philipp Geipel label (#456) . The Covellite, a relatively rare copper sulphide, forms as small platy crystals covering granular Pyrite. Kosaka mine worked a massive copper-lead-zinc sulphide deposit which was discovered in 1861. Mining operations ran for ninety one years, between 1884 and 1974.