[Rockhounds] Question on Boracite

[Doug Bank]

Great find! Still…. I know you just copied and pasted this, but how do you get a 133mm cube on a specimen that is just 25mm x 20 mm?  The mystery goes on. 

By the way, I don’t question that Rob Lavinsky’s descriptions might be a little, er, exaggerated (though they are a hell of a lot better than MY descriptions). I don’t know what to say about the actual boracites from that location, but of the people that posted photographs on Mindat, there isn’t much over 2cm. I only saw one in the first hundred or so images, and it still wasn’t as big as Larry's.

As far as Alfredo goes, he is the author of the “Best of” article on boracite on Mindat. 


> On Jul 6, 2021, at 2:17 PM, Drew <dr00bert at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Scrounging through archive.org and found this,
> https://web.archive.org/web/19980705204937/http://www.korpi.com/pangaea/151to175.html
> 
> "*MI #169 Boracite, Alto Chapare, Bolivia*. A stunning boracite cube 133mm
> on edge in matrix. Total specimen dimension is 2 1/2 X 2 x 1 cm. Slight
> alteration etchings are present on this light blue boracite but these only
> enhance the specimenís quality. Price: $80. *SOLD."*
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 2:27 PM Drew <dr00bert at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Not helpful on the specimen, but I wonder if the person is Chris Korpi?
>> 
>> Unfortunately looks to have passed some years ago,
>> https://www.mindat.org/mesg-338970.html
>> 
>> On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 1:02 PM Larry Rush <larryrush at att.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> Some years ago, I ran a Thumbnail mail group, devoted to the education,
>>> Information, and trading of Thumbnail sized minerals. One of the members
>>> was a fellow named C.Korpi.We had a nice exchange whereby he sent me a fine
>>> Bolivian Boracite crystal, in matrix.   TheAlto Chapare Mine was the
>>> world's best source of these, at that time. Does anyone here know Korpi??I
>>> no longer have his address.
>>> The crystal I traded for, with Mr. Korpi, is a Terminated Orthorhombic
>>> crystal, lustrous gray, 20X30 mm in size, in a bed of Gypsum, total
>>> specimen size being  30X40X40mm.
>>> Mindat lists this locality as being known for the large size of Boracite
>>> crystals, with a maximum length up to 27 mm.
>>> Taking this at face value, and having nothing else to go by, including
>>> Dana, this means I may have one of the  largest Boracite crystals ever
>>> found.
>>> I am quite bothered by this potential bit of information, and am really
>>> not too happy to be in this position.
>>> Can anyone suggest how I can verify this, and if true...what should I be
>>> doing about it, in terms of finding the proper site (a museum?) to whom it
>>> can be endowed??
>>> Thanks.....
>>> Larry
>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
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