Geoffrey Krasnov's Blog

Made in China....

30th Mar 2008

I am finding it quite frustrating insuring specimens I purchase with Chinese origin have accurate locality data. A recent purchase is a good illustration . I purchased this piece from a known dealer who had acquired a flat of them from Collectors Edge. They were identified as Nandan, Hechi Prefecture, Guangxi Province. Rob Lavinsky recently posted extremely similar material listed as Daye, Huangshi, Hubei Province. Further, Chris Wright has two specimens on his site, again VERY similar poker chip with clear centers and milky pinnacoid caps, one Id'd as Nandan and the other Jianxi Province. Is there a chance very similar specimens are comming from three different localities? I suppose, but all during the same time period? Not likely. If we scour the mindat pictures for Chinese origin of similar habit we find Fuzichong Ore Field, Wuzhou Pref., Guangxi, posted by Dan Weinrich. Just wanted to share some frustration, as we all have the challenge of curating our collections to the best of our abilities, and not having the opportunity to visit the source we must rely on the channels from whence they flowed.

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Comments

Specimen is #157815. Link did not work for some reason...

Geoffrey Krasnov
1st Apr 2008 2:26am

This one?

Jolyon Ralph
3rd Apr 2008 9:08pm

Hi Geoffrey,
Let's just say it's from Charcas...or perhaps just Mexico! I understand the problem completely...it's identical to the one posed by older Mexican specimens. That pink smithsonite in your collection might be from 10 different localities..is it Chihuahua or Sinaloa? One has to be very careful concerning locality attribution on Chinese specimens. I've found many items from other mines in wholesale lots of Yaogangxian mine material. It seems as though Yaogangxian could be the locality for all sorts of things as dealers and miners oftentimes mix the lots together....just as so much Mexican stuff that was peddled in Mapimi was said to have come from there. It is frustrating, especially to collectors like yourself that specialize and seek to add new localities to their suites. Wouldn't it be great to have accurate locality info for all that choice Peruvian material that has been around for 30 years?! Oftentimes, the multiple locality problem is simply a matter of someone trying to keep their source secret. The great Bolivian magnetites came out and everyone had them coming from the Tazna mine when their true locality is Cerro Huanaquino. I'm still trying to pinpoint the locality on the round Chinese pyrite balls...anybody out there have a better locality than Guangdong Province???!!

Dana

Dana Slaughter
4th Apr 2008 4:51am

wow....Charcas is a long way from Nandan Geoff.......Joe

Joseph Freilich
7th Apr 2008 6:22am

Actually, I have bought this type of calcite from three different Chinese dealers. Each lot has different locations. The specimens are slightly different, but I think Nandan, Guangxi Province is the most likely source.

Chris Wright
13th Apr 2008 5:11am

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