Austinite var: Copper-bearing Austinite

Item Description

A classic example of these beautiful pieces from the famed Ojuela Mine. This small cabinet specimen features the rare and highly sought after arsenate species Austinite from the world famous Ojuela Mine in Mexico. Typically Austinite is yellow, but this material is copper-bearing, which is why has a lovely green color. This piece is filled with gemmy, sparkling, lustrous, wonderful olive green colored micro crystal aggregates sitting on sculptural Limonite matrix. Very hard to find on the market today. This particular piece dates back to the late 1970s - early 1980s era of mining at Ojuela. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #20440CL. 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.