Staff Picks

Apophyllite almost always forms good crystals of two major types. The favorite crystal habit is the rectangular prism capped by a steep four sided pyramid. A doubly terminated crystal is exceptionally special. The faces of the pyramids are rotated 45 degrees with respect to the prism faces and so plunge down into the prism edges. This produces a diamond-shaped pyramidal face instead of a typical triangular pyramid face. The shape is an extraordinary example of tetragonal crystal form. Although normally colorless or white, colored examples of apophyllite are always treasured. Some crystals of apophyllite are cut as gems, but are mostly just for the collectors.

Scolecite forms as vertically striated, thin, prismatic crystals.  Scolecite may also occur as radiating fibrous masses.  The colour may be white, yellowish, or colourless.  It is a transparent to translucent mineral, and it has a vitreous to silky luster.

This is an absolutely stunning piece!

Name: Apophyllite, Acicular Scolecite Crystals
Specimen Size:  Large Cabinet-Sized
Dimensions: 146x89x89 mm / 5.75x3.5x3.5 inches
Weight: 964 grams / 2 lbs 2 oz
Details: Mined in Panvel, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Here we have for you a superb looking Dhofar 020 classified meteorite weighing 82.14 grams. Its dimensions are 70x32x32 mm.  Found 10 March 2000 in Dhofar, Oman, in the Arabian Peninsula this H4/5 classified chondrite has a TKW of 256 Kg with a shock stage of S4 and weathering grade of W3 by the Russian Academy of Sciences, USSR.

The following is an excerpt from Mark Bostick's review of this meteorite:  "Dhofar 020 is a ordinary stone chondrite meteorite. The meteorite is high in free metal and therefore falls in the H class. S4 tells it is highly shocked. Slices of the meteorite, show veins of the cosmic impact created mineral Ringwoodite, although fractures in the stone tend to hide this some. It almost appears to me to have splinted upon impact. The meteorite falls in 4-5 petrology class, a reference to how metamorphed the meteorite is from its original state. This is judged by studying a thin section of the meteorite, most visually at the chondrules, a feature unique to stone meteorite. In a thin section under polarized light, pyroxene chondrules seem more common then their olivine pair. Still some regions in the meteorite show scattered patches of bright olivine inclusions. These are fairly rare, at least on my thin section, and most of the meteorite's olivine and pyroxene, some of the easier things to see in a thin section, appear to have went through a metamorphism, and have "melted" into the matrix and are at times undistinguishable."

This piece displays extremely well showing a beautiful crust, superb shape and good size. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a superb looking Stony-iron or Mesosiderite class C classified meteorite named Northwest Africa NWA 1879 .  This specimen is a part slice weighing 4.16 grams with dimensions of 22x17x4 mm.

This is a quote from Mr Hupé : "This is the NWA 1879, a rare C type Mesosiderite found in 2003 in Northwest Africa. This stony-iron type meteorite is beautiful because it is very fresh, has crystal clusters scattered throughout its matrix and has a great deal of elemental metal. NWA 1879 weighed 1,624 grams before preparation. About 31% was lost during cutting and polishing. There are several pairings to this meteorite in existence so the Total Known Weight (TKW) is unknown.

No expense was spared in the preparation of this meteorite. It was cut using a diamond blade in oil so that the silicates would not be plucked. When cutting this way the blade had to be redressed constantly to prevent the iron from loading up the cutting medium. It was coarse polished using a diamond lap, which needed the same treatment as the blade. It was then soaked in pure ethyl alcohol for days to extract the oil introduced during the cutting and polishing phases. A final dry polish was applied by hand, a very time consuming process. The final step was to clean it again with pure ethyl alcohol and dry it under a heat lamp providing great looking and stable specimens. This specimen comes with an identification card from The Hupé Collection."

This part slice displays extremely well and would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes protected in a gem jar with both a Canagem Collection and a The Hupé Collection specimen card.

The principal member of the Aragonite Group, aragonite is the second most common polymorph of natural calcium carbonate (the most common is calcite). It is significantly less widespread and abundant than calcite and is formed under a much narrower range of physiochemical conditions. It is metastable relative to calcite and often converts to calcite accompanying changes in the environment. It is nearly always a low-temperature, near surface mineral.

Name: Aragonite Sphere 
Dimensions: 107 mm - 4.2 in
Weight: 1.9 kg - 4.2 lbs
Origin:  China

Cubic and crystallized pyrite matrix with calcite crystal cluster. This top Peruvian specimen is in very good condition. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection.

Name: Pyrite with Calcite Crystal Cluster
Specimen Size:   Large Cabinet-Sized
Dimensions:   114x83x76 mm / 4.5x3.3x3 inches
Weight: 864Grams / 1 lb 14 oz
Origin: Mined in Huaron, Peru

This is a stunning Dronino classified meteorite slice weighing 49.3 grams. Its dimensions are 42x21x10 mm.  This interesting meteorite is a Nickel-Iron Meteorite, an Ataxite with an ungrouped element structure.

A 40 kg iron was found by Oleg Gus’kov, Moscow resident, as he was returning home from collecting mushrooms near the village of Dronino in the Ryazan district. In early 2003, it was taken to Vernad to The Meteoritical Society΄s Meteorite Nomenclature Committee which defined this meteorite as ungrouped ataxite. In the summer of 2003, the Meteoritic Expedition of Ural State Technical University – UPI and meteorite hunters collected more than 600 fragments (the largest is 250 kg) totaling about 3 000 kg and occurring at a depth of 0.2-2 m across an area of 0.5x1.5 km.

The distribution of the fragments suggests that the meteorite formed a now-buried crater about 30 m in diameter. This crater is not reflected in the present-day topography of the site. No historical records exist of a meteorite fall; thus, it appears likely that the meteorite fell earlier than the 12th century when the area was largely unpopulated.

These pieces are becoming more difficult to acquire so this is a good time to get a fine specimen. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This colorful carved gemstone sculpture, utilizing the naturally occurring maroon ruby and pale green zoisite combination, depicts a beautiful frog.  The artist from Thailand has sculpted the frog in a set position providing some nice detail and optimizing the color for the shape of the sculpture.

Ruby is the second hardest stone after diamond so few artists have managed to successfully work this mineral since it requires a very advanced technique for carving and polishing.  This carving reflects the artist's hard work to show the beauty of both the stone and the subject.  A must have in your collection.

Name:  Ruby Zoisite
Specimen Size:  Cabinet-Sized  
Dimensions:  72x47x44 mm / 2.8x1.8x1.7 inches
Weight:  149 grams / 5.2 ounces / 744.8ct
Origin:  Mined in Tanzania
Treatment: None, all natural

Calcite is found throughout the world in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. Some geologists consider it to be a "ubiquitous mineral" - one that is found everywhere. Calcite is the principal constituent of limestone and marble. 

Name: Calcite Point crystal
Dimensions: 160x75 mm / 6.3x3 inches
Weight: 1.5 KG / 3.3 Lbs
Origin: China

This entire specimen is covered with many quartz, sphalerite and pyrite crystals.

The deposit known as Dalnegorsk is mined by several different mines. The vast majority of the minerals from Dalnegorsk in collections have no reference to the individual mines. The mines are the Brenner mine (with the Svetlana adit and Olga adit), Nikolaevsky mine, Zentralnye mine, Verkhnii mine, East Partizan, 1st Sovietsky mine and 2nd Sovietsky Mine. There are probably more mines. The name "Tjetjuche" means "valley of the wild pigs" and is the old Chinese name for Dalnegorsk. On older mineral labels this name can be seen.

This top specimen is in very good condition. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection.

Name: Quartz, Sphalerite and Pyrite Crystal Cluster
Specimen Size:   Cabinet-Sized
Dimensions: 88x78x80mm / 3.5x3.1x3.1 inches
Weight: 700 Grams / 1 lb 8 oz
Origin: Mined in 2nd Sovetskii Mine, Dalnegorsk, Russia

This is a fabulous Ghubara meteorite whole fragment weighing 74 grams and measuring 46x37x24mm.  This meteorite was found in Oman, Southern Arabia in 1954 and is classified as an L5 Stony Black Chondrite.

This piece displays extremely well and is a very desirable size, it would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.