Detailed information
Species
Orpiment, Hutchinsonite
Dimensions
44 x 72 x 30
mm
Weight
114 g
Locality
Quiruvilca Mine, Quiruvilca District Santiago de Chuco Province La Libertad Department, Peru
Condition
No recorded repairs
There was a time when Orpiment specimens from Quiruvilca mine were seemingly everywhere, but those days are long gone. Renowned for having produced some of the world's finest Orpiment crystals during the 1970s and 1980s, Quiruvilca mine has also provided some of the world's best Enargite and Hutchinsonite crystals too. Occasionally, old specimens come up through the recycling of collections, but due to the soft nature of Orpiment most specimens, if poorly handled or poorly packaged, end up with significant damage. This very large miniature has been well cared for in the collection of David Hardman, who acquired it when this material was coming to the mineral market. Not only does it feature large well defined damage-free dark orange Orpiment crystals, but it has microcrystals of the extremely rare thallium lead arsenic sulphide - Hutchinsonite - too.