Alum-(K) (rare)

Item Description

Here we have a very hard to find specimen of Alum-(K) (also known as potassium alum, potash alum, or potassium aluminum sulfate) from the famed El Desierto Mine in southern Bolivia. This locality is most famous for its wonderful Sulfur crystals, but there are other species that occasionally are available to collectors. This piece is the first Alum-(K) that we've ever had to offer from this mine. It is composed of narrow, columnar / stalactitic, white/colorless, gemmy formations in an almost mushrooming structure, with no matrix. A really attractive and hard to find specimen from this well-known locale. For reference, Wikipedia mentions the various uses for potassium alum, as such "Potassium alum is commonly used in water purification, leather tanning, dyeing, fireproof textiles, and baking powder. It also has cosmetic uses as a deodorant, as an aftershave treatment and as a styptic for minor bleeding from shaving."
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #20062CL. 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.