Plumbogummite ps. Pyromorphite (fl)

Item Description

Plumbogummite is a rare, powder-blue, lead phosphate that was best known in good, botryoidal specimens from old mining (1800s) in England. China changed all that in 2015 with this massive, species-redefining discovery of large crystals of Plumbogummite replacing Pyromorphite. Originally from small artisanal workings not far from the existing Daoping lead mine (the prolific source of many of China's notable, green Pyromorphites), workings expanded underground and the two eventually connected. Here, the powder-blue Plumbogummite has preferentially pseudomorphed the green Pyromorphites, retaining their hexagonal shape, hoppered and etched terminations, and some of the original color. The jackstraw arrangement of the cluster is both appealing and unusual, with the largest, 3.5 cm crystal rising up majestically from the forest of pseudos. The aesthetics are quite good, with every angle giving a different look in both arrangement and coloration, and I like the delicate and defined nature of this cluster on matrix. Where exposed, the original Pyromorphite does exhibit good fluorescence. A Chinese classic, this large small-cabinet specimen is even better in person. If we had purchased this in China at the time that we brought out so many of these specimens as a direct source, even to buy it in China would have cost over $1000.