Aurichalcite

Item Description

Dozens of beautiful blue-green, sparkling, radiating aggregates of Aurichalcite are covering all sides of the underlain oxidized reddish-brown matrix from the Omega Mine. The vast majority of the spherules are undamaged and look beautiful up close. The Omega Mine is a now extinct copper mine that lies southeast of Tucson, and according to the entry on mindat.org dates back to 1877 and closed in 1920. Additionally, the entry states that, "the first Cu produced in any considerable quantity in Pima County came from this mine". Specimens are Aurichalcite are rare from this locality, and this is one of the best and richest examples we've ever had to offer in the auctions. This piece was collected in 1993 by Glen Miller.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 16.1.4. AZ.2; 1650. George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece 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 specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information