Home > American Minerals IV – August 26 > MS1640 Owyheeite

Owyheeite - Sold


Owyheeite is a complex silver lead antimony sulfosalt (Moëlo et al., 2008). Shannon (1920) originally described this mineral, calling it silver-jamesonite. When abstracting Shannon's work for the American Mineralogist, Wherry (1921) deemed the mineral sufficiently distinct from jamesonite to warrant species status. The mineral name owyheeite recalls its the type locality in Owyhee County, Idaho.

Owyheeite here forms a fluffy lining to a quartz pocket. The owyheeite fibers are somewhat matted to the matrix. Minor sphalerite is also present. A large coverage for this species. This specimen carries a vintage Mineralogical Research label, which indicates that it was part of the Jack Parnau (1906-1990) collection.