This is not exactly a “killer” specimen of covellite – not even for the Sterling Mine, where covellite is quite rare. In fact, as far as I can tell, there are only a few very small patches with the requisite platy appearance. However, this specimen has one major advantage over better specimens of covellite from Sterling – it is for sale. Moreover, the specimen is ex Ewald Gerstnann, who knew his “Franklin” stuff, so I don’t think this is just some mislabeled blue iridescence.

In the first pair of photso (FOV 2.2 x 2.7) the little pach of covellite just above center is ca 0.5 mm long. You need 30X to view it. The rest of the dark area may just be franklinite with a few bits of covellite here and there. The green stuff is probably malachite – it fizzes in HCl.

In addition to the small amounts of covellite, there are several small, lustrous, colorless crystals on the specimen. Most of them seem to be thin tabular-prismatic. The ones in the third pair of photos (FOV 2.1 x 2.1 mm) are more rounded. I photographed these, rather than the tabular ones, because they are next to another area with a bit of covellite. In any case, I don’t know what these colorless crystals are.

Single item shipping weight is 3.4 oz (96 g). For shipments outside the USA, up to a total weight < 8 oz (225g), this can be combined with items from this or other auctions for the same postage.

Within the USA, postage increases by about $0.20 per ounce. Above 13 oz, I will use Priority Mail ($9.25 including packing