Wavellite
specimen number:
2013591
location:
Dug Hill, Avant, Garland Co., Arkansas, USA
description: The Dug Hill locality, situated near Avant in Garland County, Arkansas, is world-renowned as the premier source of aesthetic wavellite specimens. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within the Bigfork Chert, a sedimentary formation of Ordovician age that underwent intense fracturing and folding during the Ouachita Orogeny. The wavellite (a hydrated aluminum phosphate) formed through the leaching of phosphorous from marine shales by circulating groundwater, subsequently precipitating as spherical, radiating "sunburst" aggregates within the chert fractures. These specimens are famous for their vibrant apple-green to forest-green colors and their glassy, vitreous luster when broken to reveal the internal acicular structure. Historically, while the area was known to locals for decades, it became a major focal point for mineral collectors and commercial specimen miners starting in the mid-20th century. Unlike industrial ore mines, Dug Hill has been worked primarily for mineral specimens by private individuals and commercial ventures from the 1960s through the present day. Today, it remains an active site for hand-mining, producing the iconic green radiating spheres that define the species for collectors globally.
Beautiful lustrous radiating crystal of wavellite to 3.2 cm in diameter on matrix. In great condition. Classic old locality for the species. Note that the previous label as shown at the end of the video gives an erroneous locality.
Questions about this specimen?
Send an email
or call us: 314-341-1811.