GOETHITE (old 1800s classic) ex K Williams

Item Description

An old classic that we rarely see, this is a large (1.2 kilo!) , slick-black goethite (erroneously labeled Hematite on label and posted that way last week) from one of the older ore mines in Pennsylvania, that already was apparently floating around in East Coast collections by the late 1800s (see Burnett label for details, though we do not have previous labels or history of where he got it). It is a big, heavy, shiny example , without the usual damage we see on such antiques. See the video - it is a jet, slick black that just absorbs light. From the Lee Burnett collection to the Keith Williams personal collection (Keith is a retired dealer, known for his taste in aesthetic miniatures, USA classics, and Colorado material. He was one of the first to bring out Bulgarian material in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and a dealer for perhaps 50 years. ) Interestingly we all know this WAS an old ore mine, but not much is reported in detail. It is OLLLLD. Waymarking.com gave us this information on review of the location as a current tourist site: The sign says, "Iron ore was first mined on Iron Hill by Welsh immigrants in about 1710. No trace of the building or ore processing remain there. Mining started here on Chestnut Hill in 1875, and continued until about 1910. Steam engines were used for some of the ore processing operations. Little is known about the methods and machinery that were used here." NOTE ADDED AFTER POSTING: ALTHOUGH ORIGINALLY LABELLED AS IRON ORE (HEMATITE) IT TURNS OUT THAT THESE OLD HEAVY HEMATITE SPECIMENS ARE ACTUALLY GOETHITE, VERY SIMILAR TO OTHER EAST COAST LOCALITIES. THANKS TO JIM SPANN FOR THE CORRECTION: 

After finding the mine location, based on Samuel Gordon's "Mineralogy of Pennsylvania" (1922), and that it is listed in this source and several others as being a limonite and goethite mine (with no listing of hematite), I am pretty sure this is an old goethite specimen.  The photo with a 'finger" protruding also is exactly like the goethite found in the ancient Salisbury, CT "iron mines" that also had only goethite ores. 

The Chestnut Hill limonite mine pit location, BTW, is now under Grubb Lake, on Ironville Pike, near Silver Spring, West Hempfield Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.  The locals still refer to it as the old Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Mine that filled up with water from the local spring creek.  (Amazing what you can find on the internet!)