Pyromorphite (classic material)

Item Description

The famous Bunker Hill Mine in Idaho was an important lead-zinc-silver deposit, and the source of some of the finest Pyromorphite specimens from any locality in the Western Hemisphere. The mine was in operation for a century (closing forever in 1988), and fine quality specimens such as this one are now quite difficult to obtain on the market, especially nearly 40+ years after it came out of the ground. This piece came from a discovery in the late 1970s-early 1980s and features beautiful, fine quality, lustrous, sharp, well-formed, greenish-brown and yellow bi-colored hexagonal prisms of Pyromorphite measuring up to about 7 mm, on a thin "cast" like layer of matrix. Great condition all over, with no major damage that I can see. Classic material from Idaho, you don't see it around anymore, and the best pieces from Bunker Hill are among the best Pyromorphites in the world. Pyromorphite is one of the most popular secondary ore minerals for collectors, due to the fact that is colorful, it's found in numerous world localities in fine display specimens, and the crystals are just plain beautiful. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".