A+ SHARP ANDORITE CRYSTAL: SAN JOSE MINE, ORURO, BOLIVIA- RARE! 2004 FIND!

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

Andorite is a rare Lead Silver Antimony Sulfosalt species known in collector-quality crystals from several localities, the most important of them being the San Jose Mine in Oruro, Bolivia. In November of 2004, a major find was made at this old tin and silver mine, worked since Spanish colonial times, which has been partly re-opened mainly for mineral specimens. Andorite is named for the Hungarian mineral collector Andor von Semsey (1833-1923), who holds the distinction of having two mineral species named after him (andorite and semseyite). To quote Bolivian mineral expert Brian Kosnar, “These specimens were extracted from the same vein system worked by the father of Bolivian mineralogy, Federico Ahlfeld. Ahlfeld worked the San Jose mine and Itos mine (the other significant Andorite locality at the same mountain in Oruro) when the mines were used predominantly as a major sources of tin to the United States during WWII. It was highly implausible that a find of this magnitude would ever happen considering the extensive work and time that had passed since any notable Andorite specimens had made their way out of Bolivia.” I was fortunate to recently acquire a small lot of these crystals recently and am offering these at what I think are quite reasonable prices compared to other dealers I have seen with this material. The Andorite is read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.