3562 S 400 E, Bountiful, UT 84010          801-913-6541             

Email:    Jim@LehighMinerals.com  

 
    

 

 

6


These are specimens from the Boron Open Pit Mine at Boron, California from the Jim and Dawn Minette collection.  Jim and Dawn Minette had the best Borate collection in the world and the largest inventory of Borate minerals.    The Minette Mineral collection was sold several years ago to Dave Bunk minerals in partnership with a couple of other large dealers.  The mineral collection was dispersed at Tucson several years ago except for the Borate part of the collection in whole owned by Dave Bunk minerals.  This year the Borate collection was put on the marker for the first time at Tucson.  Dave Bunk has the prime part of the Borate collection for sale at Westward Look Show and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  Lehigh Minerals had the bulk of the Borate collection for sale at the 1820 Wholesale show.

Jim Minette was the mine manager at Boron and was a major collector of Borates in the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's.  He financed other purchases for his world class mineral collection through the sale of Borate minerals.  He was the source for TV rock, a polished Ulexite demonstating its fiber optic properties, to dealerships throughout the country and world.  His Borate specimens are in many collections in the U.S. and throughout the world.  His collection and stocks are the largest accumulation of California Borate specimens in the world.  Most if not all of these rare and uncommon species are limited and no longer able to be collected in California.
 

 

HOWLITE
U.S. Borax Boron Open Pit Mine, Kern County, California
 specimens 7 to 9 cm across

Nodules of Howlite from Boron have a yellow brown rind while nodules from Tick Canyon have a grey rind.  Centers are white and in some cases have been dyed to look like Turquoise and in some cases sold as genuine Turquoise.

TUNELLITE
U.S. Borax Boron Open Pit Mine, Kern County, California
 specimens 4.5 to 5 cm across

Clusters of pearly crystals of Tunellite.

"CLAM SHELL" ULEXITE
U.S. Borax Boron Open Pit Mine, Kern County, California
 specimens 6 to 10 cm across

 

 

 
These flower like growths of Ulexite crystals are know as Clam Shell Ulexite and only found at Boron.  They are found in some of the horizons near the top of the Borate deposit at Boron.  They are inbedded in the surrounding rock and extremely hard to collect.  One person must try to free them while a second person must catch them as they fall. 

KURNAKOVITE
U.S. Borax Boron Open Pit Mine, Kern County, California
 specimens 4.5 to 9 cm across


Kurnakovite is a very rare hydrated Borate mineral.  These were found in a short time period when the Boron mine first opened in 1957 and not many were saved.  Most of these are coated to preserve the crystals.  Without the coating the surface tends to turn white over 15 to 20 years but the crystal remains intact.  The Kurnakovite crystals are also know to reach 20 to 25 cm.  In this lot the size varies but I feel the value is about the same.  There were only a small quantity of specimens in the Minette collection.  There were a few others that were very small or very large.

ULEXITE pseudomorph after BORAX
U.S. Borax Boron Open Pit Mine, Kern County, California
 specimens 4 to 6 cm across

 

These are terminated and double terminated Borax crystals now pseudomorphed to Ulexite.  These are large specimens for this pseudomorph.

COLEMANITE
U.S. Borax Boron Open Pit Mine, Kern County, California
 specimens 9 to 11 cm across

 

 

    Here are three of the twelve Colemanite specimens.  They have large transparent chisel shaped crystals.  Two specimens of the twelve have small yellowish spheres of Calcite on the Colemanite.  Colemanite crystals can be quite sharp and give cuts similar to paper cuts.