HERBERTSMITHITE, GORDAITE - San Francisco Mine, CHILE

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Herbertsmithite, GordaiteSan Francisco Mine, Sierra Gorda, Chile3.5 x 3.3 centimeters An excellent miniature sized specimen of Herbertsmithite and Gordaite from the San Francisco Mine, Sierra Gorda District, Chile. This specimen features deep green pseudooctahedral crystals of Herbertsmithite, and blue platelike crystals of Gordaite. Both species are very finely crystallized on this specimen. Herbertsmithite is a rare relative of Atacamite which gained attention last year when research suggested that it may behave as a new type of matter. Gordaite is a rare sulfate of sodium and zinc known from just 10 world localities. A link to the article in New Scientist: /article.ns?id=mg19325954.200 From Wikipedia: Recent studies at MIT have investigated purified herbertsmithite in a study to determine if it is a new state of matter known as a string-net liquid. Current research is incomplete, however compelling evidence has raised the possibility that it may be this previously unobserved state of matter. Electrons in herbertsmithite are arranged in a triangular mesh termed a Kagome lattice. Electrons in many lattices form patterns in which neighboring spins point in opposite directions; this requires that looped paths contain even numbers of atoms, so that their spins can always alternate from one to the next. Theory predicts that a Kagome read more

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