Chromium-bearing Clinochlore (''Kammererite'') (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

For a while, this material was called Kammererite, and was a valid mineral species. Today it is defined as Chromium-bearing Clinochlore, and is not longer its own mineral species. Most of the Clinochlore you'll find is some sort of greenish hue, but when a strong chromophore like chromium is thrown in, suddenly you get one of the most vivid colors in the mineral world. Maybe Roselite and Erythrite have similar color, but this amazing purplish-pink is one the most recognizable hue out there. This piece is a nice overall specimen with dozens of tiny, sharp, lustrous, gemmy, rich purplish monoclinic crystals measuring up to 2 mm with some contrasting white Calcite on matrix. Most of the crystals are very tiny (drusy), but a few of them are eye-visible. One of the few pieces of this material that I've offered from this locality recently. 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.