Ludlockite (incredibly rare locality specimen)

Item Description

Here we have an exceptionally hard to find specimen of the notably rare lead iron arsenite species, Ludlockite from the famed Ojuela Mine in Mexico. These specimens were actually mined in the 1980s (this piece came to us via Bill Panczner through a dealer), and misidentified as Karibibite (the two species are quite similar visually), but Peter Megaw reports that recent analysis at the University of Arizona has confirmed they are in fact Ludlockite. The species is best known from the type locality, the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia, where the finest examples were found in the 1960s-1970s. Ludlockite is one of the great treasures from Tsumeb, because all of the specimens were discovered within a single boulder at the mine, and no more pieces of consequence were found. When the pieces from the Ojuela Mine were confirmed as Ludlockite, it suddenly created a tremendous opportunity for species collectors to get their hands on something that is not only beautiful, but highly desirable. This piece features brilliant coppery-orange colored, thin, prismatic / fibrous crystals of Ludlockite which are partially covered by gemmy, colorless Gypsum, sitting on matrix. A specimen posted to mindat.org by Peter Megaw states that the Ludlockite crystals which are not associated / covered by Gypsum can alter to iron hydroxide minerals, and that might be the case with the upper portion of this specimen, as it has a light greenish-brown hue, and seems to have oxidized and changed to another species. It's possible that the greenish-brown mineral is also Mottramite, though it hasn't been analyzed to know for certain. With that said, there are still many good quality Ludlockite crystals to be seen on the specimen, so if you've always wanted a piece of this species for your collection, and could never find a specimen from Tsumeb on the market, don't miss out on the chance to get this one now, as there almost certainly will not be more to come from this locality. For reference, Ludlockite is one of the few minerals to be named after two different people, i.e., mineral dealers Frederick (Rick) Ludlow Smith and Charles (Charlie) Locke Key: Ludlow + Locke = Ludlockite.