Legrandite (rare classic material)

Item Description

A wonderful cabinet-sized piece of one of the most desirable rarities in the mineral world. Legrandite is a highly sought after zinc arsenate, that honestly is only found in only a few places in the world in fine crystallized examples. The Legrandite specimens from the classic Ojuela Mine stand as one of the greatest mineral occurrences extant. I would say that one of the most legendary mineral specimens in the world is the famous "Aztec Sun" Legrandite from this mine, not only the best Legrandite in the world, but maybe one of the top 10 mineral specimens ever found, especially when the rarity of the species is taken into consideration. This specimen features sharp, lustrous, well-formed rich golden-yellow color, translucent/gemmy prismatic crystals of Legrandite measuring up to 6 mm long, most of which are free-standing on little globular Mimetite aggregates atop Limonite matrix. When the crystals are backlit, the color really comes through. No damage that I can find with the naked eye. Good specimens of Legrandite are seldom seen on the market, and I don't have to tell you that fine specimens sell for huge money these days. It's hard to get your hands on a showy matrix display specimen of Legrandite from this locality, and this beauty would make a fine addition to any collection. Valued $3,000.
This piece comes from the collection of John Dagenais (#JD-357), a collector from the Pacific Northwest. John started collecting in 1969 and progressed to micromounting, and later built suites of specimens from the Chuquicamata Mine in Chile, the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia, the Majuba Hill Mine in Nevada, the Black Pine Mine in Montana and the Tintic District in Utah, among other places. You can visit John's mindat profile at https://www.mindat.org/user-647.html.