Wallaroo mine and the adjoining Moonta mine, that later merged, produced some of the world's most spectacular Atacamite crystals during the early 1900s, before they closed in 1927. Long, deep green bladed crystals as individuals and fan-shaped aggregates adorn historic museum collections around the world, but very few good specimens are in private hands. This extremely rich miniature specimen from Wallaroo mine in South Australia features rich deep green intergrown prismatic crystals of Atacamite exceptionally reaching 3.7 cm in length, on a whitish matrix. The main crystal has a perfect sloping pyramidal termination, but lower down the long prism several of the faces are deformed, not through careless handling, but from where other crystals were intergrown and now detached. Under illumination, the upper part of this main crystal displays internal flashes of green where the light penetrates. Despite its natural imperfections, this is a staggeringly large crystal for the species, and attached to the back is a rich aggregate of intergrown bladed/prismatic Atacamite crystals. A fine historic Australian specimen.
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