Size  2.5cm x 3cm
 
A small thumbnail sized speciman of drusy grey Gibbsite crystals on hematite matrix. Gibbsite is a aluminium hydroxide mineral which very rarely forms crystals. Iron baron was one of the very few localities worldwide that has produced crystals. When this was found back in the 80's , Alcoa, one of the big aluminium companies were doing research on aluminium minerals and actually sourced gibbsite crystals from Iron Baron for crystal research, because they couldn't find crystals anywhere else. The Iron Baron Quarry/pit closed in the late 80's or early 90's , not long before the whole iron baron mines closed in 1992. During recent mining activity this pit was not reopened and remains inaccessable. Near on impossible to get now.