Crandallite (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

Crandallite is an uncommon calcium aluminum phosphate species, but good crystallized specimens are honestly not easy to find. Some of the most distinctive and well-known pieces are those from the along the banks of the canal at Mont-des-Groseillers in Blaton, Belgium, a locally well-known phosphate producing area. The Crandallites form in radiating aggregates (similar to Wavellite). The color is typically a light tan to soft golden-brown hue. This piece is a good example of this now hard to find material featuring a few flattened radiating aggregates lying flat on the underlying matrix. A cool piece of this older material from presumably the 1960s era. 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 ).