Cryolite & Siderite (Ref: 6408)

This superb combination specimen with large, white to colorless translucent cleaves of Cryolite and olive-brown translucent Siderite rhombohedrons with clear cleavage planes. The specimen comes from undisputed the most famous deposit for the species (and TYPE LOCALITY), the Ivigtut Cryolite deposit in southwest Greenland. The centuries-old and only Cryolite mine (aluminium ore) of the world produced primarily in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, although good specimens such as this one were mined in the decades at the turn of the 19th century. It is now a very rare material that is hardly on the market anymore. The specimen comes with an historic, pre-WW II label from the Munich mineral dealership .