Mimetite

Unknown Owner

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Here you have a dramatic, large, 3-dimensional specimen from a very rare and old find - literally a vertical tower of light gossan matrix completely smothered by sparkling balls of botryoidal mimetite. The color is a saturated yellow, nearly the best you can get for the locality and far more desirable than orange-yellow hues. It is brilliantly sparkling in light due to a secondary miute deposition atop the larger "balls." The color is a very intense orangey-yellow hue. ALL such mimetites as this were collected in a single large find in end of 1968 and start of 1969 by Benny Fenn (right before the Tucson show of that year!), from a one-time pocket at a small prospect. It was literally a small prospect, not even a developing mine, and it never panned out or produced more specimens again. Despite attempts to find another mimetite pocket, no more ever came out after one release in 1969, which was sold off at the Tucson show. These remain unique in the world for their overall aspect; and large, colorful pieces like this are treasured by those who have them. Even at the time, this would have been considered exceptional for its elegant vertical aesthetics. The color grade on this is very high, making it a choice specimen even among those of us who have seen many over the years. Ex. Dr. Gary Hansen Collection (I bought this collection in 2003 and sold it to Dave Stoudt, within days after) .. Joe Budd photos.