Malachite w/ Pyromorphite (Gary Hansen Coll.)

Item Description

A showy and excellent large combination specimen from the 1970s work at the well-known, but very small, Rum Jungle Prospect in Australia. The large, sculptural, very sturdy crust is entirely classic forest-green, velvety, malachite botryoids. Scattered clusters of small lustrous, translucent, tabular, hexagonal, straw-yellow, pyromorphite prisms are a super and classic accent. The hollow tubes on the tips of some of the botryoids, where the precipitating fluids flowed, are remarkable in that some are rimmed with yellow pyromorphite. One spot of bruising with nearby scuffing is noted, but has minimal impact to the high quality of this piece. A very fine, large combination specimen from this well-known locale and seldom available in this quality. The Dr. Gary Hansen label with the piece dates to prior to 1984 when he retired as a mineral dealer. He pulled this piece from his stock and kept it in his personal, well known pyromorphite collection, which I bought in 2004. Valued today at $1000-1250.