Erythrite (historic locality)

Item Description

A hard to find, old-time Erythrite specimen from the now closed Mount Cobalt Mine in Queensland, Australia. The entry on mindat.org for this locality states that it produced 766 tons of cobalt from 1921-1934. This piece was likely collected off of the dumps of the mine, and is a good overall example of the beautiful Erythrites that came from this locality. The piece hosts attractive, rich carmine red colored "sprays" comprising thin acicular crystals of Erythrite on matrix. The best viewing experience comes with magnification, but the piece still looks nice to the naked eye. If you collect cobalt-bearing minerals, or if you're a fan of Australian minerals, this is a cool piece from a locality that closed many years ago to add to your collection.
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.