Paravauxite (ex Allen Heyl Collection)

Item Description

These crystals are one of the most beautiful phosphates in the world. They are highly prized for their rarity and beauty. This piece features superb, incredibly rare, gemmy, sharp, sparkling, lustrous, light green crystals of Paravauxite on matrix. This specimen is from the type locality for the species! Mark Chance Bandy described Paravauxite crystals in his book "Mineralogy of Llallagua, Bolivia". He states that Paravauxite is the most abundant of all the "Vauxites" from this mine," and with that said, you almost never see specimens, especially pieces that are larger than thumbnails available. This piece is a great example of the prismatic, sheaf-like parallel growths that Mr. Bandy described. The luster and color of the crystals tells me that this is an older specimen, most likely from WWII or earlier.