MIARGYRITE
Specimen mia-2
$ 138.00Dims: 1.1x0.7x0.6" (2.8x1.7x1.5 cm)
Wt: 0.46 oz. (13.1g)
San Genare, Huancavelica, Peru
This miargyrite thumbnail is a thick crust of tiny crystals on a base of another silver sulfide, with a tiny amount of other minerals present. The crystals of miargyrite are so tiny that they appear as a field of sparkles unless a high power loupe is used, which resolves them into silvery flattened crystals with good form - they are rounded and the faces have a slight convex curvature. The host mineral (about 50% by weight) is a vein of another silver sulfosalt, which I believe is polybasite. It has a superficially metallic appearance, and under a loupe it appears translucent and deep cherry red, with deep red reflections from internal fractures.