Mohawkite (amalgam) (classic material)

Item Description

It's important to note that Mohawkite is no longer a valid species, and according to mindat.org it is defined as a, "mixture of Algodonite, Copper, Domeykite, Paxite". With that said, you almost always see these specimens still labeled as Mohawkite as the name indicates the specific amalgam, and it's easier to write Mohawkite than several species in a row on a label. This piece is a beautiful example of this classic material (which is only found in one place in the world to the best of my knowledge) with a pleasant metallic brassy-silver hue, which has been partially polished (like nearly all Mohawkites) to better show off its beauty. It's a dense specimen, weighing 680 grams, heavier than it looks for its size. This piece dates back to a discovery from the 1950s, and pieces of this size and quality are certainly hard to find on the market today.
From the collection of Armon McPherson, a retired physicist, now living in New Mexico. Armon received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 1985, and worked at the laser laboratory at the University of Illinois at Circle Center. In the summer of 1997, Armon moved to the Argonne National Laboratory where he worked at the Advanced Photon Source, then the world’s largest synchrotron facility dedicated as an x-ray source. In 2001, he was asked to join a team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque to conduct laser research for DARPA. Finally, staying within Sandia, he transferred to the Z Facility, the world’s most powerful x-ray facility. He retired in the spring of 2017. Armon's introduction to mineral collecting came in the 1980s during graduate school when he attended his first mineral show. He took up the hobby of faceting gems, and focused his early collection on gem crystals, and later transitioned into collecting non-gem species. We are proud to offer specimens from his worldwide mineral collection here for you.