Pyromorphite (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

This piece came to us simply labeled as coming from Morocco, but thanks to Johan Kjellman for reaching out and giving us his insight as to the fact that it's likely from Les Farges, France due to the habit, color and style. The specimen features well-formed, slightly "hoppered", striated prismatic crystals with a reddish-brown hue on the exterior, but you can see on some of the broken edges that the crystals have an olive green hue internally. The largest crystal measures 1.1 cm. Overall the piece is in fairly good condition, but as mentioned, there are some contacted areas, so it's not pristine. 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 ( https://www.mindat.org/photo-3... ).