Libethenite (rare material) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

A classic specimen of the rare copper phosphate Libethenite on a layer of clay on matrix from the Tyrone Mine. There are micro crystals on the piece, which we photographed with a Canon MP-E 65 mm to better illustrate the quality, but there are also some good sized beautiful botryoidal aggregates as well. These "balls" are some of the better examples of this style that I've seen from this locality. Typically, one only sees micro "crusts" of crystals from this mine, but to have a few robust "balls" like this is rare. Tyrone Mine specimens are some of the most iconinc Libethenites from any locality in the United States, and it helps that they're not tiny micro pieces too! Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#9990). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).