Diaboleite (rare classic locality specimen)

Item Description

Diaboleite is a rare lead copper halide mineral, and some of the best and most well-known examples are those from the historic Mammoth-Saint Anthony Mine in Tiger, Arizona. This piece features a rich amount of strong blue colored, platy Diaboleite crystals associated with light blue Leadhillite. The green mineral is either Malachite or possibly Wherryite. A tiny bit of what I believe to be either Cerussite or Hydrocerussite (white/colorless) can be seen on the specimen as well. It's not common to find such rich pieces of this material from Tiger, and considering that mining at the Mammoth-Saint Anthony Mine was done decades ago, very little is available on the market today. Tiger is one of the most desirable localities for Arizona collectors, and pieces like this are certainly sought after in today's market. From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). He assembled his mineral collection over the course of 60 years, and built a fine worldwide display collection that we recently purchased. This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-215943.html