FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Conor Quinlan]

Hello Everyone!

As a relatively new serious collector I want to start sharing my showcase specimens on a more regular basis as well as get acquainted with the world of fine-mineral discovery! So I am going to begin doing a weekly post on my favorite mineral discovery(s).

Overview: For my first post I want to discuss one of my all time personal favorite finds which is a Truly Amazingly Formed "Plumbogummite a/f Pyromorphite Pseudomorph" Specimen in very near Perfect Condition! There are just a few broken crystals around the bottom of the specimen from extraction but from the top it looks absolutely pristine w/ All Crystals made Completely of Plumbogummite.

Color: Almost as ideal as it gets! The Plumbogummite is a classic Baby Blue & toward the smaller of the crystals you can see where some of the Yellow-Green Pyromorphite is showing through! The combo of colors really points out the Pseudomorphism that's occurring.

Structure: Probably one of the most unique aspects of this specimen are the perfectly formed "Dipyramidal Prismatic" crystalline structures (Resembles common Quartz Structure), which were formed by the Pyromorphite before being perfectly coated in a light layer of the Plumbogummite. The difference b/t the more common structure & this rarer one is the addition of a Dipyramidal Top which usually isn't included.

Pseudomprphism: One of the more unique pseudomorphs in my opinion given the awesome structural presence as well as the blend of colors from both mineral species! Would love to know what others think of it!

Curiosities: There one interesting aspect that I believe makes this specimen more interesting & that's the wonderful orange tinted crystalline matrix plus a curious bright orange mineral beneath the pseudomorphs that seems to be apart of the matrix.
Any help with this mystery would be great!

Please feel free to share your thoughts!

[LeadMineGal]

What a beautiful piece! I love the colorful display. Once again nature takes my breath away. Thank you for posting.

[bob kerr]

Connor - a nice specimen indeed and welcome to the FMF site. it's great that you have joined us.

sometimes its good to look around the internet and look for postings of the top level specimens of a given species. For the plumbo after pyro from China that you present, a few years ago some specimens were produced that shook the world for this species - HUGE pyro xls mostly pseudoed to plumbo gummite and rich blue color.

the high end dealers like Collector's Edge and Arkenstone grabbed most of these but there were lots available elsewhere. take a look at the two photos I've attached - incredible.

concerning the orange tint to the matrix on your piece, it's a good bet that it's pyromorphite either an incomplete pseudo or micro-xls.

keep posting!
bob

[Conor Quinlan]

Thank you for your comment, much appreciated!
Those are some gorgeous pieces indeed & I can see that the first specimen also portrays similar dipyramidal caps on top of the long columns. The blue color exhibited by the Plumbo is out of this world! If that's the true color its definitely among the best I've seen.
Very Interesting, that is actually along the lines of what I was thinking & hoping for the mineral to be, orange colored pyromorphite definitely seems to makes the most sense!
Even so though, the matrix still fascinates me because of the very clear & perplexing symmetry that exists as well as the fact that there appears to be multiple minerals & crystalline structures involved. I believe the surface of these crystalline matrices is either covered or partial pseudomorphed with a dark layer of Plumbo w/ a botyridal structure. As to what's beneath the layer I cannot begin to properly imagine myself. As pointed-out there is likely some orange Pyromorphite mixed in with the Plumbo throughout the surface of the matrices but I wouldn't be surprised if beneath they are composed of another mineral.
I have attached a couple close-ups of the matrix for anyone who wishes to comment!