SELENIUM
Specimen sel-1

Dims: 2.0 x 1.3 x 1.0" (5.1 x 3.3 x 2.5 cm)

Wt: 1.68 oz. (47.9 g)

Darwin Mine, Inyo County, California, U.S.A.

This small thumbnail specimen consists of a quartz-and-pyrite base on which rests a thin crust of Native Selenium. This crust shows no visible crystal form and is only discernable by its dark, violet-gray coloration. It is dull in luster and likely opaque. It coats a few botryoidal quartz formations that are on the piece and is accompanied by a few broken chalcopyrite crystals, along with the pyrites that are embedded in the quartz.

Dims: 1.9 x 1.3 x 0.9" (4.8 x 3.3 x 2.3 cm)

Wt: 1.8 oz. (51.9 g)

Darwin Mine, Inyo County, California, U.S.A.

Two very thin crusts of massive Selenium rest on the quartz-and-pyrite base of this small hand specimen. The Selenium is easy to see, as it has a dull, deep violet color. It shows no apparent crystal form and no visible metallic tendencies. A few pyrite crystals are also visible, but most of these are damaged.

Dims: 2.4 x 2.0 x 1.7" (6.0 x 5.1 x 4.3 cm)

Wt: 4.9 oz. (140 g)

Defiance Workings, Darwin Mine, Darwin, Inyo County, California, U.S.A.

A few very thin crusts of Native Selenium rest on the pyrite base of this hand specimen. These crusts are very thin and show no evidence of visible crystals. They have a dull, dark violet color and a dull matte luster, and coat a few areas of the base. The pyrite base shows rather bad crystal form, and appears to contain some quartz, also.

Dims: 1.5x1.4x0.7" (3.9x3.7x1.7 cm)

Wt: 0.87 oz. (24.7g)

Katherina Mine, Radvanice, Czech Republic

This nondescript gray rock has a sparkle, entirely due to needles of the element selenite. These look entirely metallic gray - there is no hint of a reddish tone. Close examination shows that much of the one side of the specimen has these acicular crystals embedded in the brown-gray host rock.

Dims: 0.8x0.6x0.5" ( 2.0x1.5x1.3cm)

Wt: 7.9ct (1.58g)

Shcoeller Mine, Kladne, Czech Republic

This small thumbnail specimen features native selenium in two forms. The specimen is partially coated with a crust of redish native selenium showing no crystal form. Also, there are several tiny, metalic, reddish-gray crystals which are another form of the element. There are other minerals (notably black cubes) which may be another rare selenium mineral, but I have not identified them. The specimen was broken by my examination - both pieces are included.

Dims: 1.06x0.64x0.36" (2.69x1.62x0.92cm)

Wt: 0.03oz (0.8g)

Schoeller Mine, Kladno, Czech Republic

This specimen, although very small, displays some of the best selenium crystals I have seen. They do not really have a red color, but rather they appear black. At first, I thought they were organized as sprays of acicular crystals, but a loupe and careful examination reveals that the individual crystals have a steep rhombohedral shape, and only the tips have enough translucency to detect a hint of red. Overall, the crystals appear nearly black, with a good metallic luster. There are a lot of these crystals - all of the sparkle on the specimen is due to them.