Pyromorphite on Arsenian Pyromorphite

$4,500.00

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The ArkenstoneFeatured

3,403 for sale·Member since 2026

In the 1980s, this remote and essentially abandoned old lead-silver mine in rural Idaho shocked the mineral world with a magnificent production of the world's finest examples of the species; and these specimens are still the best orange and yellow pyromorphite, to this day. This specimen shows yellow pyromorphite of the most intense and best yellow hue (to approx. 1 cm), perched atop rolling carpets of bright orange pyromorphite! The rounded shapes, crystallized but rounded, are a different variety of pyromorphite colored by minute traces of arsenic. When I grew up, we labeled them as Arsenian Pyromorphite as a matter of course, but today it is properly referred to as Pyromorphite (arsenic-rich). This rich, lustrous, bright and sparkly orange color is the best you could ask for, and the association and contrast of the two really takes this specimen up a level. In my 40 years or so dealing, I have only seen a very very few such combination pieces, usually in the few top collections of the folks around at that time who got to pick early - as Jack did. For the richness of color, this is a special piece - cleaned now for the first time after setting it free of 20 years of dust on a shelf, we only just realized really how good it was after it took a bath!