Vivianite (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

In the early 1980's this mine produced some of the largest and most spectacular Vivianite specimens in Bolivian history. 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 features many lustrous, sharp, prismatic, crystals of Vivainite measuring up to 1.8 cm on a layer of Siderite (?). No real damage to speak of, maybe a few tiny cleaves, but do to exposure to light, the crystals have darkened to nearly black. The size and quality is still nice for this locality. These piece are no longer being mined and they are incredibly difficult to find on the market today. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #1900). Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.