Hemimorphite (classic material)

Item Description

According to mindat.org, there are 407 mineral species reported from the Franklin Mining District (see https://www.mindat.org/loc-3947.html), and a large percentage of them are either micro, or are best viewed with UV light. Some of the best eye-visible crystals from anywhere in this district are the classic Hemimorphites, which isn't something that most people commonly associate with Franklin/Sterling Hill, but they're actually quite nice and well-crystallized. This piece features a gorgeous "rosette"-shaped group comprising lustrous/pearly, off-white colored crystals of Hemimorphite measuring 2.2 cm across, associated with additional Hemimorphite crystals aesthetically sitting on matrix. The piece sits beautifully on its own and present quite well for what it is. This specimen could very well date back to the 19th Century, when Hemimorphite was more commonly referred to as calamine. This piece comes from the personal collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman, the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. Dave is now retired from mining, but he worked for decades in various mines underground in Colorado, as a miner, mechanic, engineer, shift boss and foreman. His biggest claim to fame is that he was the foreman and the primary person in charge of mining and specimen recovery at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado in the 1970s alongside his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar. This project what was the FIRST ever operation for specimen recovery at this historic locality. A full-page photograph of Dave can be seen mining underground at the Sweet Home in on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".