Cerussite (fine classic twinned crystals) on Limonite

Item Description

The Broken Hill Mine is arguably Australia's most famous locality, but it's also one of the great mineral localities in the world. Mindat.org lists 343 different mineral species reported from the Broken Hill District ( https://www.mindat.org/loc-235733.html ) and it's the type locality for 26 of them. With that said, the area is well-known for its secondary ore minerals, which are distinctive and beautiful. The Cerussites are highly prized, ranking among some of the best in the world. This piece is a fine showy display specimen hosts many attractive twinned crystal groups of Cerussite, with individual crystals measuring up to about 3.2 cm, sitting on Limonite matrix. The Cerussites have a beautiful almost "silky" appearance with a slight chatoyance when rotated in the light. It's quite eye-catching and displays beautifully. Minor imperfections can be seen if you look closely, but it's in really good condition, which is hard to find in most of these pieces, as the species can be fragile and they are rarely completely undamaged. I will say that good display quality MATRIX Cerussites are not easy to find from Broken Hill, especially these days. and this one is among the best examples we've had to offer in the auctions. Please note that there is hardened clay attached to the base of the specimen, rather difficult to remove without causing unnecessary damage to the specimen, but it does allow the piece to sit nicely as display well from a few angles.
Valued $5,000.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#21 A), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection through our various platforms.