Nearly a complete floater with only one small point of attachment, this is a killer thumbnail of any species. It is a superbly formed, lustrous and translucent, octahedron of sulphohalite, an uncommon species and from the type locality of Searles Lake, Trona, California. WAY BETTER than your typical, grayish crystal of this material!

This is a major, nearly cabinet-sized display specimen of this beautiful species. A dark gray, brecciated shale with inclusions of rich blue lazulite, is covered with glassy and gemmy, green crystals of augelite to 8 mm across. The crystal tips exhibit a darker, richer green color. Augelite is an uncommon aluminum rich phosphate and this is generally considered to be the world's best locality for pretty crystals of this species. Plates this large and rich are old, and few and far between

Emplaced on a matrix of sugary white quartz after an unknown species is a lustrous an translucent, lime green crystal of pargasite, measuring 2.5 cm in length. Especially from this deposit pargasite, a sodium, calcium, magnesium, aluminum, alumo silicate, is an uncommon mineral species.

Witherite from Illinois sets the standard for the species, to most collectors. The only competitors are old English specimens, and there are few enough of them - plus they are white or chalky in color. This piece has amber-colored witherite intergrown over fluorite, and makes for a very choice small cabinet specimen. These mines are now closed and defunct, and good witherites have not been found in decades in any case, from any locality. The specimen was collected in the mine in 1971 by collector Bob Bartsch, and given to his friend Al Ordway on his return to California. It is a very aesthetic, choice example of the material from this mine both for its color and form, as well as exceptional luster for the species. Joe Budd Photos.

This specimen features a robust cluster of unusually fat and well developed hedenbergite crystals, attached to a crystallized mass of galena. I am told this dates to the 1940s or prior, from these classic mines. I have seen many small hedenbergites from here, remarkable for their sharpness. But this one is very impressive as a specimen overall, and is nice from any angle. ex Al Ordway collection. Joe Budd Photos

A sparkling , brilliantly lustrous cluster of greenish augelites, with superior luster compared to most examples from this or any other locale. The vivid contrast between the sharp augelite crystals and the underlaying dark blue lazulite is striking and unusual. The phosphate deposits of the Yukon are one of the world's great sources of a suite of rare phosphate species, and the Ordway collection was known for them over the years. Self-collected by Al Ordway in the 1970s.

A rich specimen with sharp, freestanding monticellite crystals to over 1 cm, perched on semilustrous brown vesuvianite (idocrase) crystals. Al Ordway self-collected this in 1974. This lcoale produced superb examples of the species, very rare elsewhere. Few pieces I have seen are so large and displayable as this.

This is a very rich specimen of this rare phosphate, wolfeite, only seldom seen even at these rich phosphate localities in the remote Yukon (and near nonexistent from other places). It is a very rich, relatively showy example of this species. The phosphate deposits of the Yukon are one of the world's great sources of a suite of rare phosphate species, and the Ordway collection was known for them over the years. This particular piece shows extremely good crystals, in intergrown clusters in matrix It can easily be trimmed into several specimens of equal value . Self-collected by Al Ordway in the 1970s.

This particular piece is, by Mendipite standards, a beauty - with an attractive core of white crystals filling a vug, in dark matrix. The crystal pocket measures 3.5 cm across and has many excellent crystals showing on the suurface, above the massive mendipite which fills it. It is a rich, rare, undoubtedly old piece that Al Ordway exchanged from the Royal Edinburgh Museum in 1972.

Al Ordway collected this specimen in 1967 according to his card, and it is the ONLY such piece I personally have seen go by. In fact, I was not even familiar with aurichalcite from the locale, though cyanotrichite has come to market on and off over the years. This small mine is a former Copper and Uranium mine worked from 1890-early 1900s. The Last Chance Mine in the Grand Canyon is located below the South rim, and is accessed via the Grandview Trail.  The mine itself is located on Horseshoe Mesa. Some collectors, such as Al, snuck back into the old workings over the years but I have never heard of any big finds, and the trek is surely dangerous. This piece, with brilliant blue, relatively robust aurichalcite xls, would be fine for ANY locality, though.