“Dr. Livingstone I presume?”
A rare and historically important specimen of livingstonite from its type locality at Huitzuco de los Figueroa. The specimen features many bright, metallic to brown metallic livingstonite forming slender lath-like crystals and massive aggregates. Livingstonite, a rare mercury–antimony sulfosalt, was first described by Mariano Bárcena in 1874 from this very locality and occurs here in low-temperature hydrothermal veins. This example is preserved in a 6 cm glass jar with screw-on lid and comes from the international collection of Peter Tarassoff. Older material of this species is very seldom available on the market.
Huitzuco, located in the state of Guerrero, was founded in the early 19th century and is best known among mineral collectors as the type locality for livingstonite. The name is believed to derive from the Nahuatl huitzilizo (thorns) and co (place), meaning “Place of Thorns,” in reference to the native huisache vegetation. With no significant modern production and limited historic collecting, classic livingstonite specimens from Huitzuco are increasingly scarce. As a type-locality example with strong provenance, this piece represents a highly desirable reference specimen for collectors of rare sulfosalts and classic Mexican localities.
