WURTZITE
Specimen wrt-4

Dims: 1.3 x 0.7 x 0.6" (3.4 x 1.7 x 1.6 cm)

Wt: 6 g

Thomaston Dam, Thomaston, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Many tiny Wurtzite crystals rest on the crystalline quartz base of this thumbnail piece. These crystals are generally in excellent condition, showing almost no damage, and do not tend to exceed 0.1" (3 mm) in either length or diameter. All show variations of the standard hexagonal form, but are still well-formed. Their color is gray-black, and their luster is dull metallic. They rest among druses of small, milky quartz crystals, and the piece is affixed loosely in a plastic thumbnail box.

Dims:2.1x1.7x1.2" (5.3x4.3x3.0 cm)

Wt: 2.9oz. (83g)

Mines les Malines, Dept. du Gard, SE France

The surface of this specimen is covered with an intergrown crust of wurtzite crystals. There is also a minor amount of drusy quartz present. The wurtzites show a resinous to nearly metallic luster. With the aid of a loupe one can, with difficulty, establish the hexagonal form of this species. There is only a very minor amount of damage to the display face of this specimen.

Dims:4.4x2.0x1.5" (11.2x5.1x3.8 cm)

Wt: 9.6oz. (273g)

Mines les Malines, Dept du Gard, SE France

The matrix of this specimen is mostly covered with tiny calcite and wurtzite crystals. The wurtzite crystals are brown in color. These crystals grow somewhat larger in the caviries in the matrix, but a loupe is still necessary to study them. In the cavities, the crystals are in the form of hexagonal prisms. There is no damage to this specimen.

Dims: 1.01x0.88x0.36" (2.57x2.24x0.92cm)

Wt: 0.21oz (5.9g)

Les Malines Mine, St Laurent-le-Minier, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

A small shard of black rock is host to a sparkly druze of wurtzite crystals. Tney appear (naturally enough) like transparent brown sphalerite crystals, with a bright luster. A loupe reveals their transparent nature and hexagonal crystal form. Only the smallest crystals exhibit the hemimorphism which is diagnostic for wurtzite over sphalerite.