Mark Kielbaso's Photo Gallery

D50-ANQCelestine SrSO₄

La Ilusión Mine, Coahuila, Mexico

Nice cluster of large, blue celestite crystals to create this piece. The piece is 13 wide by 7.6 tall and 6.6 cm front to back.

TPR-7R7Calcite CaCO₃

Magmont Mine, Bixby, Iron County, Missouri, USA

Exceptional calcite scalenohedrons rest on a pyrite matrix. Druzy quartz drapes over some of the pyrite. This piece is from the Magmont Mine, Bixby, Viburnum Trend District, Iron County, Missouri. The overall dimensions of this piece are 15 cm wide by 20 cm tall and 13 cm front to back. These honey colored calcites have good luster, gemmy tips, and no damage. They rest on a pyrite and calcite matrix. There are pyrite stalactites in the matrix.

D0M-X6CCalcite CaCO₃

Magmont Mine, Bixby, Iron County, Missouri, USA

Three exceptional doubly-terminated calcite scalenohedrons rest on a pyrite matrix. Druzy quartz drapes over some of the pyrite. This piece is from the Magmont Mine, Bixby, Viburnum Trend District, Iron County, Missouri. The overall dimensions of this piece are 14 cm wide by 16 cm tall and 9 cm front to back. These honey colored calcites have good luster, gemmy tips, and little damage.

EJV-820Halite NaCl

Kerr McGee Mine, Carlsbad Potash Mining District, Eddy County, New Mexico, USA

Clear halite holds a cube with dark blue zones.

The locality for this piece is 10th Ore Zone, Intrepid Potash East Mine, Carlsbad, Eddy County, New Mexico.

The overall dimensions are 3 x 2 1.5 cm.

P6T-KQRFluorite CaF₂

Stoneco Maumee Quarry, Maumee, Lucas County, Ohio, USA

Large crystal is about 2cm across

FNL-66VFluorite CaF₂

Galena King Mine, Coyote Canyon, Tijeras Canyon Mining District, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, USA

Fluorite, Galena King Mine, New Mexico
The locality for this piece is the Galena King Mine, Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The overall dimensions are 3 5/8" wide by 3 3/8" tall and is 1 7/8" front to back. A very good piece for the locality with 95% of the other material having no luster or any faces showing blue.

UX8-94XQuartz SiO₂

Maria Mine, Cananea, Cananea Municipality, Sonora, Mexico

The overall dimensions are 3 1/2" wide by 3 5/8" tall and 2 7/8" front to back. The largest quartz crystal measures 1 1/2" round and 2 3/4" tall. The radiating dark fuzzy looking masses are the byssolite that is included inside.

"Brutus Chamber" Brushy Creek Mine

Brushy Creek Mine, Greeley, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA

This is myself sitting in what we called the "Brutus Chamber" and thinking how in the heck are we going to be able to mine these pieces and get them out of the cave. At this point in the cave we were vertically about 35' feet above the haulage tunnel and about a hundred feet into the system. This photo was early in 1994.

"Virgin Valley Chamber" Brushy Creek MIne

Brushy Creek Mine, Greeley, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA

Eugenio Quintana and Travis (T-Bone) Hartin collecting in what we called the "Virgin Valley Chamber". The name for this area came to be after the fact that no miners who originally hit the pocket in the late 70's were able to gain access to this room as it was sealed off by large boulders that had to be drilled and broken up to gain entry. This photo would have been in 1995 in what would be our second year of digging the pocket.

Calcites in "Alligator Alley"

Brushy Creek Mine, Greeley, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA

Paul Jett heading vertical to gain access to a horizontal opening, which he collected in for two or three weeks extracting the calcite's. September of 1994