Phosgenite

Phosgenite from its type locality at Bage mine close to Cromford in Derbyshire, England, is one of those “must have” British species and this admittedly ugly but reasonably rich example is from the J.R. Knight Collection together with his label. Jim Knight was a well known collector in South Manchester and over his lifetime built an impressive systematic collection. The Phosgenite, a rare lead chlorocarbonate, forms a 1.3 x 1.3 x 0.7 crystalline block on a 1 cm thick matrix of oxidised Galena. The Phosgenite is coated in an off-white earthy crust with just one face exposed to show the translucent glassy interior. Phosgenite was first discovered at Bage mine and was initially named Cromfordite. A good example of Phosgenite from Bage mine with a clean, Jim Knight label, although not a specimen to win any aesthetic trophies!