Pyromorphite

This specimen is Pyromorphite from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, measuring 50 x 30 x 32 mm and weighing 115 g. It is drawn from the David Vince Collection. Like other members of its group, Pyromorphite forms barrel-shaped hexagonal crystals with a colour range running from green through to brown, meaning specimens from the same broad locality can still vary meaningfully in habit and colour saturation from one find to the next. Broken Hill's extensive oxidised zone has produced Pyromorphite from more than one of its individual workings, a reflection of the scale and mineralogical diversity of the orebody as a whole rather than any single, uniform occurrence. At 50 x 30 x 32 mm and 115 g, the specimen is a good cabinet size for the species, with sufficient mass to show its crystal development clearly. Pyromorphite is moderately soft and can be sensitive to abrasion, so handling by the matrix rather than the crystal faces is recommended for display. The specimen's documented provenance is the David Vince Collection.