Molybdenite (rare locality specimen) (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

This piece is labeled as coming from "Los Andes, Anconcagua, Chile", which is either a reference to the mountain Aconcagua, which is the tallest peak in the Andes, and the highest point in the Southern Hemisphere, or it could refer to the Aconcagua wine growing area in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Either way, I've never seen a piece labeled from this locality before. It's possible that all the information is erroneous, and the piece is from another locality entirely, but it's almost impossible to know specifically where it was found. This miniature sized specimen is a beautiful, foliated, metallic, bright silvery-grey colored group of Molybdenite with almost no matrix. An interesting and unusual locality specimen to be sure. From the worldwide mineral collection of Albert Lewis Kidwell (January 1, 1919 - August 16, 2008). Al was a well-known mineral collector and research geologist with Carter Oil Company and later Exxon Oil Company in Houston, Texas. The phosphate species Kidwellite was named in his honor in 1974.