Tourmaline in Dolomite (rare locality specimen) (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

In the famous Binntal of Switzerland lies the great Lengenbach Quarry, one of the top mineral producing localities in the world in terms of the number of species found (173) and type locality species (48). This piece is a notably uncommon piece for the locality, featuring a 9 mm, sharp, lustrous, semi-translucent, dark greenish-golden colored prism of Tourmaline (presumably Dravite) sitting on sparkling, granular, cream colored Dolomite matrix. We haven't had many of these over the years, and most crystals are not much larger than the crystal on this specimen, so it's a very good example of this elusive material from a prestigious mineral locality. 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. The piece is accompanied by a label from the Natural History Museum in Bern, Switzerland (No. L 12.188) which states it was either mined in 1976 or added to the Museum collection in 1976.