Pyromorphite (fine quality)

Item Description

Pyromorphite is a beloved secondary ore species, prized by many collectors. Certainly the most desirable hue for the species is green, and the famous green Pyromorphites from Les Farges, France and the Bunker Hill Mine in Idaho are iconic in the mineral world, but both localities have been closed for decades, so good green crystals of Pyromorphite were hard to find on the market for years until the now famous Daoping Mine started producing green crystals of equal color and quality to anything out there. We first started seeing these pieces in the late early 2000s, and they are some of the most recognizable specimens from any Chinese locality. This piece is a wonderful miniature sized specimen featuring HIGHLY lustrous, glowing apple green colored, hexagonal crystals with slight skeletal "hoppering" measuring up to about 8 mm on a thin layer of matrix. I can't find any major damage, and the crystals looks fantastic up close, as some of the tiny crystals are almost GEM QUALITY. I'm told that little is coming out of Daoping these days, so scoop these up while they're available, because you may not see them again. Valued $2,000-$2,500. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.