Al Cerny Collection Al Cerny was a practicing mining engineer for over 30 years before retiring to South Carolina for the bass fishing. He worked at several mines including Sterling Hill near Franklin, New Jersey and the Northumberland Mine in Nevada where he was able to satisfy his collecting passion. Barite became his specialty, but the collection has far more than just barite.

This pseudomorph is reminiscent of the ones from the “Crystal Cave” near Ouray. I don’t know if this was collected with the calcite intact and then etched, or if it was found this way, but it is now only the quartz casts after calcite.