Stibnite is an antimony sulfide celebrated for its cool gunmetal hue, razor-sharp symmetry, and striking metallic luster. Long admired by collectors, the species was defined for decades by the famed Ichinokawa Mine in Japan. That narrative shifted when a single pocket at the Wuning (also known as Wuling) Mine in Jiangxi, China, yielded the largest stibnite discovery in mineralogical history: thousands of crystals, including several behemoths weighing hundreds of kilos.
Fine Minerals International, together with Andrew Pagliero and Markus Walter, acquired the entire mine run, filling a 44-foot container and spending months sorting and cleaning the material. The majority of the find consisted of single crystals, and only about a hundred specimens ultimately emerged as truly world-class, rivaling the revered Japanese classics in quality while surpassing them in scale. Today, the finest examples reside in leading private collections and in museum holdings at Harvard University and the American Museum of Natural History.
This large-cabinet specimen is one of those rare survivors, composed of two intergrown, interlocked clusters of sleek, steely-gray crystals with mirror-bright, paneled faces that appear almost machined. Its dramatic symmetry and commanding metallic sheen exemplify why Wuning stibnite is regarded as the modern benchmark for the species and a lasting icon of a once-in-a-generation discovery.