Blödite (rare)

Item Description

Blödite is a rare hydrated sodium magnesium sulfate mineral named after German chemist, Carl August Blöde. Although it's found in a fair number of world localities, some of the finest examples are those from the Soda Lake locality in San Luis Obispo County, California. This piece is a sharp, well-formed, single "floater" crystal that when backlit, shows dark internal "phantoms". This is a good piece for quality, size and symmetry, and there are only a couple of small contacts on the corners. I would like to point out that the crystal does need to be oiled with mineral oil to preserve its hydration state, if it's kept in in a humid environment, it will otherwise start to dissolve as it pulls moisture from the air. From the worldwide mineral collection of Albert Lewis Kidwell (January 1, 1919 - August 16, 2008). Al was a well-known mineral collector and research geologist with Carter Oil Company and later Exxon Oil Company in Houston, Texas. The phosphate species Kidwellite was named in his honor in 1974 ( https://www.mindat.org/photo-326405.html ).