Adamite (classic material)

Item Description

The historic Ojuela Mine in Durango, Mexico is unquestionably one of, if not THE most significant mineral-producing localities in the entire country. I will refer you to the article written by Tom Moore in the Mineralogical Record, which states that the mine was, "Discovered by the Spanish in 1598, the deposit was actively mined for 350 years, but did not come to the notice of mineralogists until W.E Foshag's visit in 1927." With that said, for decades we've seen superb quality minerals coming out of this mine, and without question, the finest examples of Adamite have come from the prolific locality. Not only are the crystals themselves superb for the species, but the Adamites occur in a myriad of colors due to particular chromophores. This attractive small cabinet specimen several good-sized, sharp, vitreous, fine quality, well-formed, light yellow colored Adamite crystals measuring up to 1.4 cm, associated minor colorless Calcite on Limonite matrix. The color seems to be concentrated in the terminations of the crystals, as the central portions of the prisms are essentially colorless. No major damage that I can see, and the piece is beautiful in person. The Adamites look great up close. An impressive and eye-catching example of this truly classic material.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2980. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information