Pyromorphite

Pyromorphite from the Daoping Mine, Guilin, Guangxi, China, measuring 57 × 57 × 48 mm and weighing 180 grams. A substantial cluster from what has become one of the most celebrated Pyromorphite localities anywhere.

Pyromorphite is lead chlorophosphate, Pb5(PO4)3Cl, hexagonal, classically forming as barrel-shaped or elongated hexagonal crystals in shades from green through yellow-green to brown, growing in the oxidised zone of a lead deposit where phosphate-bearing groundwater reacts with weathering Galena. Since becoming known to the international market in the early 2000s, the Daoping Mine has set the benchmark for the species, its crystal habit and colour saturation now the standard against which Pyromorphite from other localities, including the historic European sources, tends to be judged.

A good Daoping cluster at this size is a strong example of the material that gave the locality its reputation, and pieces of this quality continue to drive renewed collector interest in the species generally. This piece is from the David Vince Collection.