Strengite with Kidwellite (ex Kidwell Collection!!)

Item Description

Here we have a wonderful association specimen from the famous Cook Creek Mine featuring beautiful, sparkling, translucent purple Strengite groups along with velvety, soft olive green to brown-green colored spherical aggregates of Kidwellite - a rare hydrated sodium iron phosphate - from the premier locality for the species. A dark reddish-brown mineral (originally labeled as Phosphosiderite, but could be Beraunite) along with black Rockbridgeite are present as well. This combination of purple Strengite on Kidwellite is rare from the locality, and notably eye-catching. If you collect phosphates or minerals of Arkansas, do not let this fantastic old timer pass you by. For reference, nothing has come out of this locality for decades as according to mindat.org it was "Restarted from earlier workings in 1956 & closed in 1959. Restarted 1972 and again in 1986 for specimens". 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. I love the fact that we have a piece of Kidwellite from Kidwell's collection. For those who don't know, it's rare to have a specimen featuring a mineral species from the collection of the individual for whom the species was named.