Otavite (rare) (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

Otavite is a rarely cadmium carbonate, part of the Calcite group. Cadmium is fairly rare in nature (only about 30 approved mineral species contain cadmium), and Otavite is the ONLY carbonate species to contain cadmium in the world. The species gets its name from the Otavi Mountains around Tsumeb, and although it's been known for over 100 years, specimens are incredibly hard to find on the market. This is a wonderful small cabinet sized display piece from this world-famous locality featuring a rich coverage of pearly, soft blue-grey colored trigonal crystals measuring up to about 2 mm, sitting atop a thin layer of Smithsonite on matrix. Most of the Otavite crystals are completely undamaged, and look beautiful when viewed under magnification. When exposed to SW UV light, the piece shows a light yellow fluorescence in spots, but I cannot determine if this is the actual Otavite fluorescing, or possibly a thin coating of another mineral. If you collect rarities, minerals of Tsumeb, carbonates or simply minerals containing cadmium, don't miss out on this attractive and rare piece from what a lot of people consider to be the greatest mineral locality in history. 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.