JFD01AN5: In the vicinity of where so many iridescent goethites were found, the famous Filón Sur cut, also yielded some mimetites, some with very sharp orange crystals and, in one very localized find and in a somewhat separate place, these appeared as barrel-shaped mimetites that we could call the 'campylite variety' for its habit. I liked this piece, both for the quality of the Mimetite and for the association with Cerussite crystals, association that, as far as I know, were extraordinarily rare.
Filón Sur open pit (external), Minas de Tharsis, Tharsis, Alosno, Comarca El Andévalo, Huelva, Andalusia  Spain (30/04/2017)

Specimen size: 5 × 3.2 × 2.4 cm = 1.97” × 1.26” × 0.94”

Main crystal size: 0.6 × 0.4 cm = 0.24” × 0.16”

JFD35AN7: The La Lapilla goethites have an 'architectural' point and, although their color is sometimes not as intense as that of the Tharsis goethites, their structure and the design of their formations have always attracted me. I got it (of course) from Fermín Clemente, a great field collector in the Huelva area.
La Lapilla Mine, La Lapilla, Alosno, Comarca El Andévalo, Huelva, Andalusia  Spain (03-04/2008)

Specimen size: 14.3 × 8.5 × 4.9 cm = 5.63” × 3.35” × 1.93”

JFD55AN9: Fine and elegant, among the many that appear at this locality, this piece has something special that caught our attention, both Fermín Clemente, who was the one who found it, and me who bought it.
El Pilar de Jaravía, Pulpí, Comarca Levante Almeriense, Almería, Andalusia  Spain (2010)

Specimen size: 3.8 × 3.3 × 2 cm = 1.50” × 1.30” × 0.79”

JFD66AO0: Fine and elegant, one more of the so desirable pyromorphites from the San Andrés Mine.
This is one of the earliest with well-defined crystals found there. It has a general appearance, and, above all, a slightly different color from what was found later.
San Andrés Mine, Espiel, Comarca Valle del Guadiato, Córdoba, Andalusia  Spain (±1985)

Specimen size: 4.2 × 3.1 × 2.7 cm = 1.65” × 1.22” × 1.06”

Main crystal size: 0.5 × 0.4 cm = 0.20” × 0.16”

JFD02AN5: What years those were! Extraordinary pyromorphites that became world famous were found during the years 1997 and 1998 in the San Andrés Mine. But not everything ended there, since in 1999 a good piece like this one was still recovered, with a very elegant structure and good crystal quality.
The piece was photographed by Paco Piña and appears on the 'Mina San Andrés' page of the blog MTI
San Andrés Mine, Espiel, Comarca Valle del Guadiato, Córdoba, Andalusia  Spain (08/1999)

Specimen size: 5.4 × 3.4 × 3.2 cm = 2.13” × 1.34” × 1.26”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.4 cm = 0.39” × 0.16”

JFD03AN5: Group of Fluorite crystals, more transparent than usual for this locality and with some curious inclusions of what appear to be natural hydrocarbons.
La Florina mining, Gloria Segunda Mine, Hornachuelos, Comarca Valle Medio del Guadalquivir, Córdoba, Andalusia  Spain

Specimen size: 9.1 × 7 × 4.2 cm = 3.58” × 2.76” × 1.65”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.6 cm = 0.39” × 0.24”

JFD65AO0: Not all pieces of a collection have to be 'top'. There are pieces like this, that without being anything special, you like them. Because of the shape, because of the small black crystals of Augite, because it was one of the very first ones that were found or whatever. A collection can have everything, it is enough that we like it! 😉
Oficarsa Quarry, De las Culebras Hill, Carchelejo, Cárcheles, Comarca Sierra Mágina, Jaén, Andalusia  Spain (2000)

Specimen size: 2.8 × 2.3 × 2 cm = 1.10” × 0.91” × 0.79”

JFD56AN9: It was always believed that these elongated black crystals were diopsides, but thanks to Gonzalo García, editor of the respected mineral magazine Bocamina, we now know that they are actually augites. In the case of this piece, it is abundant and well displayed, as there are many crystals traversing the Prehnite crystals.
Altogether, a fine piece from this locality, with the addition of the Augite and small Titanite crystals. Curiously, in the review of the piece that appeared together with its photograph in Mineralien Welt magazine, page 10 of the 01/2004 edition, the Augite is not mentioned but only the Prehnite. In those years these Carchelejo specimens were still relatively new in Europe.
Oficarsa Quarry, De las Culebras Hill, Carchelejo, Cárcheles, Comarca Sierra Mágina, Jaén, Andalusia  Spain (2003)

Specimen size: 7.7 × 6.3 × 3.2 cm = 3.03” × 2.48” × 1.26”

Main crystal size: 2.5 × 2.2 cm = 0.98” × 0.87”

JFD34AN7: Beautiful iridescent goethites appear not only in Huelva, but also in Murcia, in the famous San Valentín Quarry. They can be very beautiful, like this one that covers Quartz crystals and in which an elongated botryoidal group seems to form a narrow bridge over the Goethite itself. From Alain Martaud's collection, I liked it when I bought it from him because it was so elegant and original.
San Valentín open pit, Sancti Espíritu, Sierra Minera de Cartagena-La Unión, La Unión, Comarca Campo de Cartagena, Region of Murcia (Murcia)  Spain

Specimen size: 6.9 × 5.8 × 3.4 cm = 2.72” × 2.28” × 1.34”

JFD13AN5: Alain Martaud spent quite a long time in La Unión digging for minerals and took advantage of the time to obtain a good number of specimens from the area. All 'special', such as this Smithsonite and Galena pseudomorph that has replaced an older Pyrrhotite crystal, which in addition to being interesting (mineralogically speaking) has the great advantage that it makes the specimen stable, so it will not suffer the alteration that so often happens to pyrrhotites. In addition, a small group of the ubiquitous barytes from that area embellish the specimen.
Tomasa Mine, La Fortuna, Sierra Minera de Cartagena-La Unión, La Unión, Comarca Campo de Cartagena, Region of Murcia (Murcia)  Spain (1980-1985)

Specimen size: 9.6 × 6.8 × 6.4 cm = 3.78” × 2.68” × 2.52”

Main crystal size: 9.6 × 6.2 cm = 3.78” × 2.44”

JFD12AN5: Quartz (variety amethyst) is not rare in the mining districts of Murcia, but the quality is usually not very high. Perhaps the least known locality is the one located on the Cerro del Águila, from which came thick crystals, somewhat more intense in color than the better known ones in the Los Pajaritos Ravine area.
This one is a good example of this and despite the fact that the images may appear to show a damaged side of the tip, it is in reality a ribbed shape of natural origin.

Cerro del Águila, Llano del Beal, Cartagena, Comarca Campo de Cartagena, Region of Murcia (Murcia)  Spain (±1967)

Specimen size: 9 × 7.6 × 5.3 cm = 3.54” × 2.99” × 2.09”

Main crystal size: 8 × 6.1 cm = 3.15” × 2.40”

JFD48AN8: Where they exist in the mine they are prolific. Among the many many Calcites that have been found there, Francesco Stoppani chose this one and I agree so much with him that I also chose it when I bought part of his collection. The black inclusions are almost certainly manganese oxides, but I have not confirmed this analytically.
Herculano Mine, El Puntal, Campos de Golf, Atamaría, Cartagena, Comarca Campo de Cartagena, Region of Murcia (Murcia)  Spain

Specimen size: 12 × 9.8 × 7 cm = 4.72” × 3.86” × 2.76”

Main crystal size: 2.3 × 1.9 cm = 0.91” × 0.75”

JFD09AN5: For a short time the Aguablanca mine yielded good epidotes and it was fortunate that at that time a mineral collector was there, and he took care to rescue a good number of pieces. I bought this one from him, a big sharp crystal. I remember that before there was a mine in Monesterio, I went to dig there but found absolutely nothing crystallized, only Chrysotile. One more example of the important work of recovering and saving our mineralogical heritage that mineral enthusiasts do.
Aguablanca Mine, Monesterio, Comarca Tentudía, Badajoz, Extremadura  Spain (09/2006)

Specimen size: 9.8 × 6.8 × 4.4 cm = 3.86” × 2.68” × 1.73”

Main crystal size: 3.4 × 2.1 cm = 1.34” × 0.83”

JFD57AN9: Very different from any other Horcajo Pyromorphite that I have seen, and supported by a magnificent pedigree. Ex-Máximo Reyero collection, one of the best field collectors in the South of Spain in the 1960-70s, later passing through the Folch collection (duplicates), and now it has come here.
Its crystal habit is very curious, the striations on the crystal faces are quite curious too, and the recrystallizations with an important color change, going from dark green to a lighter green, almost yellow, are very curious. In short, a curiosity from a mine that never ceases to amaze us.
El Horcajo Mines, El Horcajo, Almodóvar del Campo, Comarca Campo de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha  Spain (±1910)

Specimen size: 4.8 × 4.1 × 3.1 cm = 1.89” × 1.61” × 1.22”

Main crystal size: 1.4 × 0.7 cm = 0.55” × 0.28”

JFD33AN7: A classic mine for Spanish mineralogy from which, however, very few specimens were saved, probably due to the method of exploitation, and perhaps because Pyrite and Galena are very abundant minerals in Spain and so that is why little attention was paid to specimens from this particular mine, although some specimens from this deposit are at least as good as those from other more famous Spanish localities.
This piece came into my hands thanks to the kindness of Conchita Ferrando, widow of Jorge Darlington Rivera, a geologist at the mine who had the wisdom to make a small collection of the specimens he obtained while working there. Without him and Conchita, it is more than likely that references of the mining heritage of the Alcudia Valley would have been lost.
Diógenes Group of Mines, Quintos Lebrachos, Solana del Pino, Comarca Valle de Alcudia y Sierra Madrona, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha  Spain (1972-1975)

Specimen size: 8.4 × 4.8 × 4 cm = 3.31” × 1.89” × 1.57”

Main crystal size: 0.2 × 0.2 cm = 0.08” × 0.08”

JFD46AN8: Saying the word Zarzalejo and thinking of Carlsbad twins is pretty much the same thing. Generations of collectors have gone there to scratch around and find little treasures. Let us add that the orthoclases from Zarzalejo tend to be more 'fresh', less weathered, than those from other places.
Zarzalejo, Comarca Sierra Oeste, Community of Madrid  Spain

Specimen size: 4.5 × 4.1 × 2.3 cm = 1.77” × 1.61” × 0.91”

Main crystal size: 3.9 × 2.8 cm = 1.54” × 1.10”

JFD21AN6: Another proof of Lluís Daunis's good work as a field collector. This time with a specimen from the Sierra de Madrid with very clean and 'fresh' Orthoclase crystals and with Quartz crystals (smoky variety), well separated and quite perpendicular to the Orthoclase crystal plate. It should be noted that I have it listed as Orthoclase and not Microcline as per personal communication from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, in Madrid.
(La Cabrera pluton), La Cabrera, Comarca Sierra Norte, Community of Madrid  Spain

Specimen size: 10.4 × 9.3 × 3 cm = 4.09” × 3.66” × 1.18”

Main crystal size: 2 × 0.9 cm = 0.79” × 0.35”

JFD11AN5: According to what I was told, between 1998 and 1999 a very large vug was found in the granite quarries of the Sierra de Madrid, so large that you could walk inside it. This enormous cavity produced many specimens, and despite the fact that many were destroyed by the quarrying work, Madrid fans were able to collect a large number of quality specimens like this one, for which we should highlight the good number of peculiar Calcite crystals, very characteristic of this vug, as well as the Clinozoisite-Epidote Series mineral that adorns many specimens from that vug.
Isabel Quarry (La Saludadora Quarry), La Cabrera pluton, Valdemanco, Comarca Sierra de Guadarrama, Community of Madrid  Spain (02-03/1999)

Specimen size: 7.7 × 6 × 4.6 cm = 3.03” × 2.36” × 1.81”

Main crystal size: 0.7 × 0.7 cm = 0.28” × 0.28”

JFD08AN5: Jordi Povill's collection was full of great Spanish classics and most localities were very well represented. This is the case of this Bayldonite from Pardos, which is not only very rich, with a lot of the material, but also has a good Baryte crystal associated with it and small crystals of Azurite that provide contrast.
Pardos, Comarca Señorío de Molina-Alto Tajo, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha  Spain

Specimen size: 8.1 × 6.4 × 4.4 cm = 3.19” × 2.52” × 1.73”

JFD36AN7: I had seen many pieces from this locality, but never found one that completely satisfied me. In 2013, Ester Pulido from 'Tesoros Naturales' had this piece and, given how 'fresh' the Fe-bearing Dolomite looked, and the beautiful edging of the white Calcite, I really liked it and bought it from her. In fact I still think that it is very beautiful for what is usually seen in this locality.
Iron mines of Ojos Negros, Ojos Negros, Comarca Jiloca, Teruel, Aragon  Spain

Specimen size: 11.6 × 9.4 × 5 cm = 4.57” × 3.70” × 1.97”

Main crystal size: 2.7 × 2.2 cm = 1.06” × 0.87”

JFD04AN5: From a very classic locality to which generations of collectors, especially from Aragon and Catalonia, have gone to look for minerals. Lluís Daunis, as always the smartest in the class, found this elegant piece and had it in his collection. It exhibits a second generation of 'classic' radial Scolecite that has grown over a first generation of Scolecite that was less radial.
Estopiñán del Castillo, Comarca La Ribagorza, Huesca, Aragon  Spain

Specimen size: 9 × 5.6 × 4.1 cm = 3.54” × 2.20” × 1.61”

Main crystal size: 2.8 × 2.4 cm = 1.10” × 0.94”

JFD67AO0: 'Pereña' is a mythical name in Spanish mineralogy because, when pegmatites were being handed out, Spain must have missed the meeting, because it has very few, and for this reason, although tiny (compared to those of other countries), the Pereña de la Ribera pegmatite is quite famous for its heliodor Beryls, smoky Quartz and many other species. So I was very happy to be able to get this piece from Manolo Tomé. It has extra-flat Quartz and an intense smoky color, almost black, with good transparency and luster.
Pereña de la Ribera, Comarca La Ribera, Salamanca, Castile and León  Spain (1993)

Specimen size: 6.1 × 4.7 × 1.6 cm = 2.40” × 1.85” × 0.63”

JFD31AN7: Navajún and its Ampliación a Victoria mine are known worldwide for their cubic pyrites that are among the best in the world, but in addition to the cubes there are also pyrites like this one, with octahedral faces. They appear in the deposit at only a single spot where no work has been done for many years. Maybe one day work will be done in that section again and more of these characteristic cubo-octahedral pyrites will appear, but for now...
I bought it of course from Pedro Ansorena in 2002. Pedro is the owner of the mine and the person who knows it best.
Ampliación a Victoria Mine, De Alcarama Range, Navajún, Comarca Cervera, La Rioja  Spain (±2000)

Specimen size: 3.8 × 3.3 × 3.6 cm = 1.50” × 1.30” × 1.42”

JFD32AN7: The habit of this Pyrite is known in Spain as a 'matchbox'. Some faces of the cube are wider and more elongated than the others, giving this 'rectangular' appearance. They are rare in Navajún and when they do appear they are highly desired, especially if they are in matrix, as in this case.
Ampliación a Victoria Mine, De Alcarama Range, Navajún, Comarca Cervera, La Rioja  Spain (2014)

Specimen size: 6.4 × 5.1 × 3.7 cm = 2.52” × 2.01” × 1.46”

Main crystal size: 2.7 × 2.3 cm = 1.06” × 0.91”

JFD10AN5: For a time we used to see these very dark octahedral fluorites (which could be called “antozonites”) and just as they appeared they disappeared again. This is a representative example of what for some years was a classic at Spanish mineral shows.
Barbeito Mountain, Arteixo, Comarca A Coruña, La Coruña / A Coruña, Galicia / Galiza  Spain (1998)

Specimen size: 7 × 4.3 × 2.7 cm = 2.76” × 1.69” × 1.06”

Main crystal size: 0.3 × 0.2 cm = 0.12” × 0.08”

JFD70AO0: Very curious association in this old piece in which the blue Baryte has other reddish Baryte crystals at the base, probably due to iron oxide inclusions.
Moscona Mine, El Llano, Solís, Corvera de Asturias, Comarca Avilés, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±1996)

Specimen size: 5.4 × 4.2 × 3 cm = 2.13” × 1.65” × 1.18”

Main crystal size: 2.6 × 2.4 cm = 1.02” × 0.94”

VB56G8: Group of bright cubic crystals with a very clear zonation marked by Pyrite inclusions.
The piece is from the Jordi Fabre collection and we will give the handwriten label with the sample.
Moscona Mine, El Llano, Solís, Corvera de Asturias, Comarca Avilés, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (03/1993)

Specimen size: 10.7 × 6.9 × 3.4 cm = 4.21” × 2.72” × 1.34”

Main crystal size: 1.8 × 1.6 cm = 0.71” × 0.63”

JFD24AN6: These pieces of blue Fluorite with yellow Baryte crystals and Calcite were found in the Moscona mine on Christmas Eve 1999, at a depth of 50 meters and in an area called 'The Telegraph' because it was close to the security apparatus for calls to the outside.
It was a small pocket, not many pieces came out, and this was the one that I kept because of the good combination of Fluorite and Baryte and because of the ‘life’ (good appearance and intensity) that the piece has.
Moscona Mine, El Llano, Solís, Corvera de Asturias, Comarca Avilés, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (24/12/1999)

Specimen size: 8.7 × 7 × 2.9 cm = 3.43” × 2.76” × 1.14”

Main crystal size: 1.7 × 1.5 cm = 0.67” × 0.59”

JFD47AN8: As they say in Asturias: a 'pocholada'. Iridescent Pyrite almost completely covers Fluorite cubes of the typical lemon-yellow color of the pieces from the Villabona mines (not to be confused with those from the Moscona Mine)
Villabona Mines, Barrio de la Estación, Villabona, Llanera, Comarca del Nora, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (2015)

Specimen size: 6.2 × 6 × 4.3 cm = 2.44” × 2.36” × 1.69”

Main crystal size: 1.4 × 1,3 cm = 0.55” × 0.39”

JFD61AN9: A great curiosity: small crystals of Fluorite, with an intense color, very transparent, on a Quartz matrix ... all quite different from what is usually found in the Minas de Villabona area, although this type of scoriaceous Pyrite is characteristic of the deposit.
The piece was in the collection of A. Mayor, from Madrid, and is very old. As I have already noticed with some other piece, what appeared there many years ago was quite different from what we see today.
Villabona Mines, Barrio de la Estación, Villabona, Llanera, Comarca del Nora, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±1979)

Specimen size: 11.3 × 10.4 × 7.7 cm = 4.45” × 4.09” × 3.03”

Main crystal size: 0.8 × 0.8 cm = 0.31” × 0.31”

JFD71AO0: From the well-known collector from Castellón, Damián Macaya, comes this piece from Minas de Villabona from the 1980s, in which the Fluorite is lighter in color than usual from there and in which groups of Calcite rhombohedra of good size and luster dominate.
Villabona Mines, Barrio de la Estación, Villabona, Llanera, Comarca del Nora, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (1980)

Specimen size: 11.6 × 8 × 8.3 cm = 4.57” × 3.15” × 3.27”

Main crystal size: 2.8 × 1.8 cm = 1.10” × 0.71”

JFD72AO0: The Josefa-Veneros vein, so generous, whose pieces always have 'something' that makes them very distinguishable and elegant. In this case the Fluorite is associated with relatively large crystals of Quartz, which is not so common there.
Josefa-Veneros vein, 75 level, Coroña de Arriba-La Collada, La Collada mining area, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±1974)

Specimen size: 3.3 × 3.3 × 1.8 cm = 1.30” × 1.30” × 0.71”

Main crystal size: 0.4 × 0.3 cm = 0.16” × 0.12”

JFD25AN6: Totally different from what is normally expected from the Josefa-Veneros vein, this piece surprised me when I got it, but since it was from Dr. Anton Forster, a mining engineer and collaborator of Dr. Maucher at the University of Munich, that confirmed to me that it was really from there. Dr. Forster was head of geology at La Collada when the famous specimens from the Josefa-Veneros vein were being found. He only worked there during that period and, since the piece indeed has all the appearance of being from the La Collada area and not from La Viesca, after checking it with José Ramón García we came to the conclusion that, although unusual, it must indeed be from Josefa-Veneros. In any case, I was very happy with it …
Josefa-Veneros vein, 75 level, Coroña de Arriba-La Collada, La Collada mining area, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±1970-75)

Specimen size: 12.6 × 8.2 × 4.7 cm = 4.96” × 3.23” × 1.85”

Main crystal size: 2 × 1.4 cm = 0.79” × 0.55”

JFD05AN5: The ‘Tres de La Collada’ pocket was a huge cavity that produced thousands of pieces that we had to take with us over several trips with vans. The crystals in that vug were very sharp, isolated, and had a very deep color. Their transparency was not the best known from La Viesca but they were a big hit due to their intensity of color. Where could all those thousands of specimens be now? Sometimes it amazes me how so many pieces find a home so easily.
Among the small format pieces this was the one I kept. I liked the contrast with the Quartz matrix and that the crystal was so idiomorphic and isolated.
La Viesca Mine, Tres de la Collada pocket, La Collada mining area, Huergo, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (05/2003)

Specimen size: 7.6 × 3.3 × 3.3 cm = 2.99” × 1.30” × 1.30”

Main crystal size: 2.3 × 2.1 cm = 0.91” × 0.83”

JFD37AN7: Geoda de las Monjas ('The Nun's pocket') is an already mythical name in the compendium of fluorite finds from La Viesca. One of the characteristics of this vug, apart from its quality and the enormous sizes of the best pieces, was what gave it its name ('Nuns' because of the shape of their bonnets) due to the relative presence of Quartz epimorphs after scalenohedral Calcite crystals that had disappeared, leaving only the shell of Quartz that used to coat them.
The most desirable epimorphs? Those that also had Fluorite crystals of good size on top of the epimorphs, such as in the case of this piece, which is what makes it such a high-quality specimen.
La Viesca Mine, Las Monjas pocket, La Collada mining area, Huergo, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (05/2010)

Specimen size: 11 × 8.7 × 8.3 cm = 4.33” × 3.43” × 3.27”

Main crystal size: 4.7 × 4.7 cm = 1.85” × 1.85”

JFD06AN5: One of the best pockets at La Viesca, of the many found at the beginning of this century, was the one called 'Coquera de la Calcita' which produced large Fluorite crystals with a lot of color zoning and a lot of transparency. There was a lot of calcite in that vug so this piece (the one I kept from that vug) shows small white coatings of that mineral. A quite spectacular piece that has made me very happy all these years.
La Viesca Mine, Coquera de la Calcita pocket, La Collada mining area, Huergo, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (01/2004)

Specimen size: 11.6 × 9.6 × 7.4 cm = 4.57” × 3.78” × 2.91”

Main crystal size: 8.4 × 6.3 cm = 3.31” × 2.48”

JFD60AN9: In the La Viesca area there is not only the La Viesca Mine itself but also other ore deposits that at different times have been yielding specimens. The one that, in my opinion, was the most interesting was the quarry that the locals called the 'filón capa'. It was an open pit farther north than the La Viesca mine, close to the town of Fresnedo, and although only worked for a short time, exceptional pieces came from there, some with a very intense color, like this one.
La Viesca mining area, 'filón capa', Fresnedo, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±2001)

Specimen size: 6.5 × 6 × 4.7 cm = 2.56” × 2.36” × 1.85”

Main crystal size: 3.2 × 2.9 cm = 1.26” × 1.14”

JFD23AN6: Although later more sphalerites with Fluorite were found in the La Viesca mine, when the first ones were found they caused much excitement among mineral collectors in Spain due to their novelty. I remember that they were very sought after and that in the end I was able to get one thanks to the deeply missed José Ramón García. Some time later, more pieces of Sphalerite with Fluorite came out, some even with relatively large crystals, although perhaps not as light in color as these first ones.
La Viesca Mine, La Collada mining area, Huergo, Siero, Comarca Oviedo, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain

Specimen size: 7.8 × 4.9 × 4 cm = 3.07” × 1.93” × 1.57”

Main crystal size: 1 × 1 cm = 0.39” × 0.39”

JFD45AN8: How I love the fluorites from this mine! Not all of them are clear or have an intense color, but if they do, and have Azurite, and if on top of the Fluorite some Malachite is deposited too, making a 'cap', that's when happiness comes ...
Llamas Quarry, Obdulia vein, Caravia mining area, Las Cabañas, Duyos, Caravia, Comarca Oriente, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (2017)

Specimen size: 3.8 × 3 × 2 cm = 1.50” × 1.18” × 0.79”

Main crystal size: 1.1 × 1.1 cm = 0.43” × 0.43”

JFD22AN6: When azurites first appeared in the Llamas quarry in 2018, I got a very large batch of specimens and, from the whole lot, I chose this one because of the good size of the crystals, because they form beautiful rosettes, because they are very perfect, and because they bear a special “signature”, namely a colorless and totally transparent Fluorite crystal which appears between the two rosettes, very characteristic of the deposit.
Llamas Quarry, Obdulia vein, Caravia mining area, Las Cabañas, Duyos, Caravia, Comarca Oriente, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (2018)

Specimen size: 6 × 4.4 × 3.2 cm = 2.36” × 1.73” × 1.26”

JFD73AO0: Who could have predicted when we used to go to Berbes to poke around or to get pieces from local field collectors that this locality and its fluorites were some day going to be at the top of the world's Fluorite rankings? In this piece the reasons for Berbes' fame can be clearly seen: the transparency of the crystals, the color zoning between sky blue and purple, and the associated pure white Baryte.
Berbes mining area, Berbes, Ribadesella, Comarca Oriente, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±1984)

Specimen size: 7.4 × 4.7 × 3.7 cm = 2.91” × 1.85” × 1.46”

Main crystal size: 0.8 × 0.8 cm = 0.31” × 0.31”

JFD74AO0: Although Berbes is relatively monotonous in terms of the appearance of its fluorites, in some areas very different pieces came out, like this one, with an extraordinary luster and a more violet color than usual in Berbes. In fact, one might think that it comes from the Emilio Mine due to its great transparency, but fortunately it is well documented: I bought it in Playa Vega from a local vendor ('El Nene') before the Emilio Mine had even entered production.
Berbes mining area, Berbes, Ribadesella, Comarca Oriente, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (±1980)

Specimen size: 7.4 × 7.4 × 3.9 cm = 2.91” × 2.91” × 1.54”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.8 cm = 0.39” × 0.31”

JFD59AN9: In the first fluorites found in the Emilio mine it was relatively common for them to have sulphide inclusions, but only rarely were they Cinnabar. Later, these inclusions were seen less often, although a piece still appears occasionally with such inclusions.
This specimen also shows several Calcite crystals with a more complex crystal habit than the simple scalenohedra typical of this locality.
I bought it from a peddler in the mine in May 1993. What times those were...
Emilio Mine, Obdulia vein, Caravia mining area, La Rubiera, Loroñe, Colunga, Comarca de la Sidra, Principality of Asturias (Asturias)  Spain (1991)

Specimen size: 5.2 × 3.9 × 3.1 cm = 2.05” × 1.54” × 1.22”

Main crystal size: 2.4 × 2.1 cm = 0.94” × 0.83”

JFD07AN5: Reocín Marcasite is dangerous because it tends to decompose relatively easily, especially in humid climates like Barcelona's. For some reason this piece has remained 'healthy' despite the many years it has resided in my collection. I do not know whether the Dolomite, pinker than usual in Reocín, has anything to do with its good preservation, but the fact is that here it is, resisting the passage of time quite nicely.
Reocín Mine, Reocín, Comarca Saja-Nansa, Cantabria  Spain (±1985)

Specimen size: 5.4 × 4.3 × 3.7 cm = 2.13” × 1.69” × 1.46”

Main crystal size: 0.6 × 0.5 cm = 0.24”

JFD69AO0: Due to their transparency, these dolomites are considered, together with those from Brumado, Brazil, the best in the world. In some cases, this transparency can be overwhelming, as can be seen in this very well-formed specimen which, curiously, is not from the golden age of the Asturreta Quarry, when engineer Córdoba was extracting wonders from the El Pozo area, but rather later, from the upper levels of the Azcárate Quarry.

Azcárate Quarry, Eugui, Esteríbar, Comarca Auñamendi, Chartered Community of Navarre (Navarre)  Spain (2002)

Specimen size: 5.3 × 3.4 × 3.1 cm = 2.09” × 1.34” × 1.22”

Main crystal size: 2.1 × 2.1 cm = 0.83” × 0.83”

JFD68AO0: Eugui chalcopyrites in Dolomite, partially or totally pseudomorphed by Malachite, are classics. I kept this one because the Dolomite which hosts the Chalcopyrite is better crystallized than usual in these associations from Eugui.
Azcárate Quarry, Eugui, Esteríbar, Comarca Auñamendi, Chartered Community of Navarre (Navarre)  Spain (03/1993)

Specimen size: 7.4 × 4.6 × 4 cm = 2.91” × 1.81” × 1.57”

Main crystal size: 2.2 × 1.4 cm = 0.87” × 0.55”

JFD58AN9: Exceptional for the locality, in which, although very beautiful crystals of Chalcopyrite replaced by Malachite appear on the Dolomite, they are usually not very large. This piece can be considered one of the largest groups of crystals ever found there, or at least I don't know of any with well developed faces bigger than this one. The credit for finding the piece goes to Paco Pérez, a great field collector in the Basque Country, from whom I got it.
Azcárate Quarry, Eugui, Esteríbar, Comarca Auñamendi, Chartered Community of Navarre (Navarre)  Spain (2004)

Specimen size: 4.2 × 4 × 2.6 cm = 1.65” × 1.57” × 1.02”

Main crystal size: 4.2 × 2.5 cm = 1.65” × 0.98”

JFD44: Papiol is Papiol and although Cantera Berta is more famous for the fluorescence and color of its fluorites than for good crystals, in some cases the crystals can be very aerial and separated from each other. This old piece is a good example of that.
Berta Quarry, Can Domènech Hill, Roques Blanques Mountains, Sant Cugat del Vallès-El Papiol, Comarca Vallès Occidental / Baix Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia / Catalunya  Spain (±1990)

Specimen size: 3 × 2.2 × 2.6 cm = 1.18” × 0.87” × 1.02”

Main crystal size: 1.1 × 1.1 cm = 0.43” × 0.43”

JFD30AN7: Doubly terminated Augite crystal of good size for the locality and on matrix, which is not so common in specimens of this species. It also has small crystals of some associated Zeolite (possibly Phillipsite). It comes from a well-known, although somewhat forgotten locality, located very close to an urban area. Antonino Bueno Yanes found them in July 2014 and this is how this Spanish classic 'came to light' again.
Outcrop located on the road to the dock, Morro del Jable, Pájara, Fuerteventura, Las Palmas Province, Canary Islands  Spain (07/2014)

Specimen size: 2.7 × 2.7 × 2.5 cm = 1.06” × 1.06” × 0.98”

Main crystal size: 2.1 × 1.3 cm = 0.83” × 0.51”

JFD62AN9: Purple fluorapatites ('os lilas' in local slang) are a rarity in Panasqueira and when they appear they are highly valued. This piece is not large, but has no damage, it has Siderite, Cassiterite and Ferberite crystals, and color zoning, with a purple band between two green bands, which makes it an original and very elegant specimen.
Minas da Panasqueira, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (±1989)

Specimen size: 3.5 × 2.7 × 2.1 cm = 1.38” × 1.06” × 0.83”

Main crystal size: 2.1 × 1.6 cm = 0.83” × 0.63”

JFD49AN8: 'Apatite' is the iconic Panasqueira mineral, known worldwide. The diversity of habits and colors and the multiple parageneses in which the Fluorapatites of this mine appear give it recognition and fame. Obviously this is not among the best fluorapatites found there, but its luster, its color, not very common in Panasqueira, and the sharp definition of its faces make us recognize the signature of this great mine.
Minas da Panasqueira, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (±1995)

Specimen size: 4.5 × 3.5 × 1.7 cm = 1.77” × 1.38” × 0.67”

Main crystal size: 1.8 × 1.6 cm = 0.71” × 0.63”

JFD51AN8: When the upper levels of Panasqueira were reworked, what had always been an elusive rarity there, the Fluorite, suddenly flourished and provided us with specimens as extraordinary as this one that, as so often happens in the world of minerals, surprises us with its different shape and color, and by the color contrast between the Fluorite and the Chlorite that covers leafy groups of Muscovite crystals which in turn are on top of Ferberite and Siderite crystals.
The specimen has been photographed and published in the magazine ‘Paragénesis’, number 02/2016, page 68
Minas da Panasqueira, levels 0-1, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (03/2014)

Specimen size: 11.2 × 8.3 × 5.8 cm = 4.41” × 3.27” × 2.28”

Main crystal size: 2.9 × 2 cm = 1.14” × 0.79”

JFD76AO0: This is a serious piece, the bluish Fluorapatite has a fascinating crystallography, the crystals are very aerial and are associated with a combo of Ferberite, Siderite and Calcite-Dolomite. I don't recall seeing many more Panasqueira fluorapatites with this crystal habit (if any at all)
Minas da Panasqueira, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (±1994)

Specimen size: 6.4 × 5.4 × 4.8 cm = 2.52” × 2.13” × 1.89”

Main crystal size: 1.7 × 1.3 cm = 0.67” × 0.51”

JFD50AN8: Marcasite is a mineral with a bad reputation since it is less stable than other iron sulphides, but the vast majority of Marcasites from Panasqueira are very stable since they are not usually pure marcasites but epitactic intergrowths of Arsenopyrite-Marcasite and that gives them great stability. This particularly elegant specimen is very well preserved despite the number of years I've had it and despite the fact that I live in a city with very high humidity, which does not help the conservation of sensitive species.
Minas da Panasqueira, level 0, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (12/2014)

Specimen size: 7.2 × 5.4 × 3.1 cm = 2.83” × 2.13” × 1.22”

Main crystal size: 1.2 × 1 cm = 0.47” × 0.39”

JFD15AN5: Curious and original, I always liked it, and although in Tucson I sold it to Jim Robison, but oh what turns life takes, it came back to me, since when Rob Lavinsky bought Jim's collection he sold this piece to the Belgian collector Wouter Van Tichelen who one day offered it to me, so I bought it from him and it came back to home! (until when? 😉)
Minas da Panasqueira, level 2, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (1980)

Specimen size: 9 × 8.3 × 5.7 cm = 3.54” × 3.27” × 2.24”

Main crystal size: 2 × 1.4 cm = 0.79” × 0.55”

JFD38AN7: Quartz is ubiquitous in Panasqueira and appears there in a great diversity of habits. In this floater, recrystallized at its base, what is attractive, in addition to its transparency and perfection, is the presence of a Cassiterite crystal in the center of the piece and the numerous inclusions of Fluorapatite crystals, a very rare inclusion due to the very different formation temperatures of Quartz and Fluorapatite. Completing this combo piece is the presence of Siderite on the back.
I bought it from Alberto Ledo in 2014. Alberto is part of the new generation of Portuguese dealers who go often to the mine and sometimes get great specimens from there.
Minas da Panasqueira, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (10/2014)

Specimen size: 11.6 × 4.5 × 2.8 cm = 4.57” × 1.77” × 1.10”

Main crystal size: 9.1 × 2.9 cm = 3.58” × 1.14”

JFD52AN8: Floater crystals of Sphalerite, Pyrite and Marcasite in a Quartz “aquarium”, with Siderite on the outside associated with these sulphides.
The imposing Quartz rises and carries all of the others both inside and out.
The historic Zé da Tropa found personally this piece the same day than I bought it at the 'Escritorio' of the mine.
Minas da Panasqueira, level 2, Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Cova da Beira, Centro  Portugal (07/07/1997)

Specimen size: 18.3 × 9.3 × 7.2 cm = 7.20” × 3.66” × 2.83”

Main crystal size: 10.4 × 4.7 cm = 4.09” × 1.85”

JFD16AN5: This Willemite comes from the great find made in the Preguiça Mine by a group of people from Huelva in the years 2005-2006. In addition to the crystals being quite large for what is found in that mine, they are nicely separated, and the piece is also complemented by a group of Cerussite crystals that enrich it.
When I bought them I had them analyzed by Joan Viñals and the analysis confirmed that they were indeed Willemites.
Preguiça Mine, Sobral da Adiça, Moura, Beja District, Baixo Alentejo, Alentejo  Portugal (2005-2006)

Specimen size: 6.4 × 6.1 × 3.7 cm = 2.52” × 2.40” × 1.46”

Main crystal size: 0.4 × 0.1 cm = 0.16” × 0.04”

JFD17AN5: This Plattnerite comes from the great find made in the Preguiça Mine by a group of people from Huelva in the years 2005-2006. Very graceful, with the contrast between the very lustrous small crystals of Plattnerite and the white Calcite.
When I bought them I had them analyzed by Joan Viñals and the analysis confirmed that they were indeed plattnerites.

Preguiça Mine, Sobral da Adiça, Moura, Beja District, Baixo Alentejo, Alentejo  Portugal (2005-2006)

Specimen size: 10.2 × 6.4 × 4.6 cm = 4.02” × 2.52” × 1.81”

Main crystal size: 0.1 × 0.1 cm = 0.04” × 0.04”