Vivianite (classic material)

Item Description

This piece is from the famed Morococala Mine in Bolivia, which in the early 1980's produced some of the largest and most spectacular Vivianite specimens in Bolivian history. I was told stories that there were plates of crystals just pouring out of the mine for a brief period of time. Then, the mine manager decided that the miners were too distracted collecting Vivianite and not attending to their duties underground, so he decided to blow up the entire section of the mine where the Vivianite was being collected, thus greatly limiting the number of specimens that would make their way to the market. This piece is one of the last specimens to come out the Morococala during the "Vivianite Boom". It is a lustrous, sharp, prismatic deep green crystal of Vivianite with very minor attached matrix. The size and quality is excellent for this locality, and very attractive from the display side. These piece are no longer being mined and they are incredibly difficult to find on the market today. Don't let this great, old display specimen slip away. With VERY strong backlighting, the crystal shows a vivid green color and a bit of gemminess internally. From the collection of Richard ("Rich") Andrew Kosnar (1946-2007), the well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado, who was the namesake for the phosphate species Kosnarite. Rich imported minerals from Bolivia during the 1970s-1980s, including The Great Phosphophyllite, which many people consider to be the greatest mineral specimen in existence (see https://www.mindat.org/photo-240201.html).