Adamite (classic material)

Item Description

The Ojuela Mine is one of the greatest localities in Mexico. For many years it has remained as one of the top specimen-producing mines in the entire country. I think a strong argument can be made that it is THE most significant mineral-producing locality in Mexico. The article written by Tom Moore in the Mineralogical Record about this mine states that the locality was, "Discovered by the Spanish in 1598, the deposit was actively mined for 350 years, but did not come to the notice of mineralogists until W.E Foshag's visit in 1927." With that said, for decades we've seen superb quality minerals coming out of Ojuela and without question, the finest examples of Adamite ever seen have come from the prolific locality. Not only are the crystals themselves superb for the species, but the individual crystals are some of the largest seen as well. This attractive toenail sized specimen features vitreous, fine quality, sharp, blocky, well-formed, vibrant yellow colored Adamite crystals measuring up to 1.0 cm on Limonite matrix. No major damage that I can see, and the piece is beautiful in person. Excellent bright green fluorescence under SW UV light as well.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #8775CL. The piece was originally from the collection of Dan Serebrakian. Chet was born 1947 in started collecting minerals circa 1957. He worked briefly as a drill runner at the famous Sterling Mine, in Ogdensburg, New Jersey and from 1987 to 1990 he helped convert the mine into a public access mining museum. He has held the role of treasurer, vice president and president of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society (FOMS), and has been a board member and vice president of the Franklin Mineral Museum. The rare copper arsenate, Lemanskiite was named in his honor in 1999.