Almandine Garnet in schist (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

While the Austrian Tyrol is well known for many beautiful mineral specimens, one of the most recognized species are the gorgeous red Almandine Garnets. This piece comes to us with a hand-written label stating that it is from the Stilluptal (Stillup Valley), but I can't find a listing in any database that mentions these Garnets have been found there. That's not to say this piece isn't from a singular find, and might be a unique discovery specimen. This piece features a flaky layered matrix of greenish-black mica schist which plays host to deep red colored dodecahedral crystals of Almandine measuring up to 6 mm. With good backlighting, some of the Garnets actually show wonderful internal gemminess. While some of the Almandines are fairly well-formed, it should be noted that a handful of the crystals are contacted. A cool cabinet sized piece of this famous material from the Austrian Alps. From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.