STORY BY BOB JONES
Thumbnail specimen of proustite, mined in the Freiberg District, Saxony, Germany, with sharp, pyramids of deep red color and metallic luster. (HERITAGE AUCTIONS)
Today proustite, commonly called “Blood of the Bull” mineral, is hard to find. Native gold is rarely found as a compound, preferring instead to remain aloof from joining other elements. Silver, on the other hand, forms a variety of wonderful compounds that collectors treasure: waxy looking chlorargyrite, dark gray to black acanthite, stephanite, polybasite, and two fine red sulfosalts pyrargyrite and proustite.