Mineral: Cuprite
Locality: Poteryaevskoe Mine, Rubtsovsky District, Altai Krai, Russia
Dimensions: 4,5 x 6,5 x 4,0 cm
Description: Main crystal size: 6,2 cm
Sharp-edged octahedron with rather plain, metallic-colored faces and red reflections under strong light, intact and apparently floating with some smaller octahedrons in polysynthetic formation at the back. A little semi-crystallized silver on one of the faces. The metallic color becoming red on the surface under strong lighting is probably due to the fact that this cuprite crystallized with a larger proportion of tenorite than that of cuprites from Africa.
MIM number 1172
Photographer: Augustin de Valence (Aïnu)
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