Zippeite (RARE locality specimen)

Item Description

An incredibly hard to find specimen from this lesser-known copper-lead-uranium-vanadium mine in New Mexico. It's virtually impossible to get your hands on any samples from this locality, and if you look on mindat.org, there is literally a single photo of one specimen listed on their database for the Woodrow Mine. This is the ONLY Piece of Zippeite we've ever seen from this mine, so if you collect rarities or oddball locality specimens, don't pass this one up, as you will likely not see another anytime soon. Although Zippeite is a rare mineral, it has been known for close to 200 years, as it was named after the Austrian mineralogist František Xaver Maximilian Zippe in 1845. This hydrated potassium uranium sulfate has been reported from dozens of world localities, but good specimens are not commonly seen. This thumbnail sized piece features many strong yellow colored monoclinic crystal clusters to about 1 mm on matrix. The piece is best seen under magnification, but the color jumps out at you even with the naked eye. A really cool esoteric locality specimen. From the collection of Wendell Overcash.