Orpiment

specimen number:
8911130

location:
Cut 62, Twin Creeks, Humboldt Co., Nevada, USA

description:

Bright lustrous orange crystals of orpiment to 1.0 cm in size on matrix. Typical of these slight damage present, this one still in good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

The Twin Creeks Mine in Humboldt County, Nevada, operates within the prolific Getchell Trend as a major Carlin-type gold deposit, where precious metals occur microscopically within complex Paleozoic sedimentary rock formations. While mining operations primarily targeted bulk gold extraction, a significant breakthrough occurred in April 1999 within the Cut 62 sector of the open pit. Routine blasting exposed hidden hydrothermal cavities containing world-class specimens of orpiment, a bright yellow and orange arsenic sulfide mineral. These exceptional crystals formed when hot mineralizing fluids circulated through fractured anticline structures, precipitating directly into open voids and creating some of the largest, most translucent, and well-crystallized orpiment specimens ever discovered globally.

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