Pyrolusite, Calcite – Ardestan (IRN)

Since a few years some very interesting discoveries were made in Iran, mayn of you will remember the wulfenite from Ahmad Abad, cerussite from Nakhlak, erythrite from an abandoned copper mine or zunyite from Qalat-e Bala!
New here is fresh stuff; and something unusual on the mineral market. A local collector in Iran found a spot with a cool combination of pyrolusite on calcite in an abandoned mine. He was able to extract some very interesting and aesthetic pieces. Usually pyrolusite isn’t such an attractive mineral, but the combination with calcite changes everything. These two minerals are completely different in habit, color and size. I think you will agree that this is anything but boring.

This is one of the finest items of this find: a calcite-coated vug with some beautiful metallic pyrolusite as an excellent contrast. It is more 3-dimensional that it appears on the photo.