Another bigger new pocket of stibnite crystals was found in February and March, 2004, from the Qinghe shaft #1 of the Wuning Antimony Mine, Jiangxi Province, Southern China. The specimens of this pocket are similar with those of the last pocket (see below in the 2003 section), but the overall quality is much higher, because they are collected mainly under the control of two mineral dealers from Changsha, Hunan. The qualities of this pocket are also much greater than the last pocket. As my statistics at the mine, the lot of the pocket includes approximately 300 peaces in very high quality, of which some are really the world best. This lot ranges in number and size from 11 large pieces (> 80 x 80 x 60 cm in size) with matrix and long crystals up to 50 cm), 60 medium ones (30 ~ 60 cm in length and 20 ~ 55 cm in width and 30 ~ 50 cm in height), about 300 small groups with 2 to 5 crystals, and 2,000 single crystals longer as 10 cm. The majority of them are nearly damage-free or with minor damages. This lot also includes two tones of lower grade specimens in different sizes. Although the major owner of the mine, Mr. Wu, claimed that all specimens of this pocket is there in this lot, I do see some very good pieces from this lot in other dealer’s hands in both Wuning and Changsha. The owners invited me to see this lot at first in early March just after the mining process. The price of this lot is 10 Million Yuan RMB (appr. 1.2 million USD) at the first offer when I arrived there, which is much higher than the offer earlier made by one of the owners of the mine on the phone. Although, they made a better offer to me now, I still feel it is too expensive for me and I worry about the cleaning methods applied there (all specimens have been cleaned by a kind of acid solution in order to get a better luster. The luster may change back or become worse after some time if the cleaning solution is not correct) and the market for this large quality.

   If somebody has interest to have some of it, please contact me.