Pyromorphite on Quartz (rare Idaho piece)

Item Description

A rich and excellent small cabinet pyromorphite from the Sherman Mine, not far from the famous Bunker Hill Mine, which has produced so many world class pyromorphites. The crystals have a distinct look, different from the many varieties from the Bunker Hill Mine and specimens are extremely uncommon from the Sherman Mine, compared to the prolific Bunker Hill Mine. Striking radiating starbursts of lustrous olive-green spindles, to 8 mm, richly and dramatically cover the undulating sculptural 3-dimensional matrix of contrasting oxide-tinted quartz matrix. All of the hoppered spindles have lighter mustard-yellow tips, a characteristic of some Sherman Mine pyromorphites. A bit of scattered brusing is mostly out-of-sight and is certainly a modest detraction for such dense coverage. The mine produced much pyromorphite and the entire area caved in 1973. Lead-silver mining began in 1885 in the District. See the 1982 Mineralogical Record Coeur d'Alene District article in Vol. 13, No. 5. Old, rare, rich and outstanding pyromorphite from this locality, probably from the 1960s.