Calcite on Pyrite after Pyrrhotite, Trepca Complex, Kosovska Municipality, Kosovo, Mined c. 1980-2012, 6.0 x 6.5 x 7.0 cm, $200. Online 6/2. SOLD.
NSMW11244
Trepca produces an amazing number of minerals from a fantastically rich skarn-type replacement orebody that was the financial backbone of the former Soviet Union. The mine started in the 1940s and has produced more or less continuously for the past 70 years, an enviable record for any mine. This piece is an excellent pseudomorph of pyrite after pyrrhotite which is a classic from the mine but what makes it really choice is the druse of well developed ivory white calcite. The original pyrrhotite symmetry is clearly seen with flat prismatic faces and there is an attractive late-stage druse of iridescent pyrite just under the calcite that adds great contrast and color. Mined c. 1980-2012 but probably from the last couple years or so. No faults.