Atacamite (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

A rather hard to find specimen of Atacamite from the Poona Mine in South Australia. This copper mine was first discovered in the 1860s, but more recent mining in the 1980s-1990s yielded specimens that you'll find on the market today. With that said, pieces from the Poona Mine are still exceedingly rare to find for sale, and this particular specimen is the only piece of Atacamite that I can remember having to offer from this locality. The piece features very good sized, lustrous, sharp, prismatic crystals of a deep emerald green color measuring up to a whopping 2.3 cm long, which are oriented into somewhat "spray"-like groups, along with more spherical-shaped aggregates, sitting on matrix. While the largest crystal is not damage-free, there are some smaller crystals which are in fine condition, and look great under magnification, with undamaged faces/terminations. Valued $750.
From the collection of Gerry Morvell.