Goethite (fine quality)

Item Description

Most people are probably familiar with Goethite as a species. Chemically it's iron oxide hydroxide and it's actually part of the Diaspore Group. It's not typically a species that most people associate with excellent crystallized specimens. In my experience, the specimens from around the Lake George / Crystal Peak area in Colorado are almost certainly the best crystallized representations of the species out there. It's important to remember that the vast majority of Goethite you'll see on the market is either massive / uncrystallized or reniform / botryoidal, so euhedral defined crystals are RARE. This is a wonderful miniature sized display piece filled with fine, sharp, lustrous, golden-black colored "blades" Goethite forming a beautiful "spray", free of matrix. The largest Goethite blade measures 2.3 cm long. Minor roughness in a spots, but the piece is so showy and three-dimensional that it really overshadows any imperfections. This is something that most collectors don't even think about adding to their collections because it's a "black rock", but when you take the superior crystallization into account, you realize that these are some of the best crystallized representations of the species extant! Lastly, the pronunciation of this species is a bit confusing, but we like to point out that it was named after the famous German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, so it is properly pronounced GER-tite (with a hard "g" like gold). From the collection of Gary Weaver of Prescott, Arizona (1944-2019). Gary was an electrical engineer who worked for many years for Hughes Aircraft in California. After retiring to Prescott, Arizona in the early 2000s, Gary rekindled his childhood love of minerals, amassing a collection of roughly 2000 specimens focusing on localities in which he and his wife had lived or visited (Mexico, Peru and the western / southwestern United States). You can read Gary's obituary here https://www.dcourier.com/news/2019/apr/27/obituary-gary-richard-weaver/