Auction Win: Wulfenite and Mimetite (‘Peas & Carrots’)

Locality: Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Mapimí Municipality, Durango, Mexico

Size: Miniature - 5 × 5.1 × 1.7 cm

A collectors classic, the “Peas & Carrots” Wulfenite/Mimetite combo is well documented find at the Ojuela Mine in Mapimi, Durango, Mexico. The largest Wulfenite crystal measures 23mm, or nearly an inch.

Mimetite is a lead arsenate chloride, Pb5(AsO4)3Cl, and a secondary mineral from oxidized lead deposits. It was first described in 1835 by François Sulpice Beudant, and its name comes from the Greek for “imitator,” for its resemblance to pyromorphite.

Wulfenite is lead molybdate, PbMoO4, a bright secondary mineral prized for its vivid tabular crystals. It was first described in 1845 by Franz von Kobell, and its name comes from Latin for “wolf,” honoring mineralogist Ignaz von Born; mimetite is lead arsenate chloride, Pb5(AsO4)3Cl, named from the Greek for “imitator” because it resembles related minerals.

Ojuela Mine is an historic mining district at the base of the northeast escarpment of the Sierra de Mapimí, about five miles southeast of Mapimí in Durango, Mexico, with workings first discovered in 1660. It is best known among collectors for world-class secondary zinc and lead minerals, especially adamite, smithsonite, wulfenite, hemimorphite, mimetite, and plattnerite. The mine has produced a long list of classic specimens from numerous stopes and veins, and it remains one of Mexico’s most famous localities for colorful, highly collectible cabinet material.