Ramsdellite

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This is a 3-dimensional knoll of sharply prismatic, splendent, black, ramdellite crystals, to 5 or 6 mm across. Ramsdellite from this small and defunct mine in a remote corner of Arizona was first found, I am told, in the early 1900s. However, the locality was apparently lost for some time and only rediscovered by the father/son team of Roy Jones and Dick Jones in the 1960s. Some of this material came out then (Roy says about 6 flats), of which this would have been a MAJOR specimen for the time and the find, large in size and quality both. I have seen this material in inferior specimens, turn up from time to time in old US collections. However, it has remained fairly rare on the market, and thus expensive. A recent find appeared literally in the middle of the Tucson show of 2009, but nothing of this overall size and caliber was recovered and this remains a major example for the locality and species. Reference: MINERALOGICAL RECORD: Vol. 14, No. 5 September - October 1983 Ramsdellite from the Mistake Mine [Arizona] 333-335 William H. Wilkinson, Jr., Robert W. Allgood, Carlos Williams & Genne M. Allgood