Aragonite helectite (RARE CALIF. find circa 1940s)

Item Description

Nicknamed "The Roadrunner" here in the office for the dramatic bird-like form of the long neck and spread tail feathers, this is an outstanding and RARE old cave aragonite helectite from this most obscure California locality. The glassy, beautiful snow-white acicular crystals are a joy to behold on both sides of this stunning piece. According to Rock Currier's description of a similar aragonite in the MINDAT Photo Gallery for the locale: "the specimen almost certainly has to be from the Crystal Snow Cave in what is now Death Valley, California. Probably collected in the early 1940's. The mine at the now ghost town of Leadfield was a stock scam and during the mining operations a cave was encountered that contained beautiful snow white aragonite formations. When the stock scam went bust, collectors began to remove specimens from the mine. Eventually it was included in Death Valley National Monument and the cave was closed." Most of the Grapevine Mountains are in the Death Valley National Park. Previously in the King Collection of Darwin, California. Formerly in the J.G. Dixon and Tom Wolfe Collections (both of which were the largest calcite collectors around in the mid 1900s and then late 1900s in SoCal). Ghostly white fluorescence. A fantastic and RARE old California aragonite helectite, only from recycled collections. VERY SELDOM on the market!