Pyromorphite (rare from this classic locality)

Item Description

The famed Dry Gill Mine is renowned for producing excellent and iconic specimens of Mimetite (specifically the variety Campylite), which have a distinctive burnt orange hue, and in rare cases this mine yielded specimens of green Pyromorphite. The two species form a series, where the arsenate molecule is replaced by a phosphate molecule, and in the case of Dry Gill, there were many more Mimetites than Pyromorphites. This piece is more of a reference specimen than anything else, but it's legit Dry Gill Pyromorphite, so if you collect minerals of the UK (specifically Cumbria/Cumberland) or you love secondary ore species, or simply minerals in the Pyromorphite-Mimetite series (or the larger Apatite Supergroup), this is a cool piece to add to your collection. Small, sharp, lustrous, well-formed, yellow-green hexagonal prisms measuring up to 3 mm, sit on oxidized matrix. The crystals look wonderful up close, and we've photographed them with a macro lens to better illustrate the quality.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#124 E), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection through our various platforms.