Bustamite (large crystal!)

Item Description

Bustamite is a fairly uncommon calcium manganese silicate mineral, and certainly the top examples ever found are those from Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia. Bustamite is found in a wide range of styles from this area, as I've seen crystals that range from red to reddish-brown, red-orange, salmon-pink, white and even lilac. Typically a good-sized Bustamite is a few cm from Broken Hill, but this piece hosts a whopping 8.0 cm(!) crystal, sharp, well-formed faces along with good reflective luster, but please note this is not a complete crystal, it's a crystal section, as it's rough around the edges. The color is a pleasant reddish-orange which glistens when rotated in the light. If you collect minerals from the prolific locality, or you're just a fan of impressive single crystal specimens of lesser-seen minerals, this is a cool piece to add to your collection.
From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#13454). This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.