Detailed information
Species
Cuprite
Dimensions
45 x 32 x 42
mm
Weight
108 g
Locality
Rubtsovskoe Cu-Zn-Pb Deposit Rudnyi Altai, Altaiskii Krai Western-Siberian Region, Russia
Condition
No recorded repairs
For large, sharp, well-formed, unaltered Cuprite crystals, and crystal aggregates there are not many better places than Rubtsovskoe Cu-Zn-Pb Deposit in Western-Siberian Region, Russia. This short-lived polymetallic deposit was worked for ten years (between 2005-2015) during which time the world's best Cuprite crystals were discovered in the near surface oxidation zone. This extremely rich miniature specimen is almost entirely made up of intergrown octahedral crystals of lustrous deep burgundy-purple Cuprite. There are a few knocks to the specimen, notably small nicks to one or two crystal points and a couple of larger areas on one crystal face, and the base is a rough broken surface, but these are significant Cuprite crystals on a world scale. The largest octahedral crystal reaches 2.3 cm across which is quite imposing for a Cuprite. An extremely richly crystallized specimen from this 'modern' classic occurrence.