Chabazite (STRONG color) (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

The Upper New Street Quarry in Paterson, New Jersey dates back to the 1890s, and produced some fantastic trap rock specimens over the years. This piece is a wonderful thumbnail example of a species that is rarely seen in good thumbnail sized specimens. Several incredibly lustrous, razor-sharp, pseudo-rhombic (triclinic) crystals of Chabazite (presumably Chabazite-Ca) with a remarkably rare and incredibly beautiful rich brick red color measuring up to 5 mm are sitting on Calcite and minor basalt matrix. There are a lot of Chabazite localities around the world, but you rarely see crystals with such a saturated and intense color like this. If you're a thumbnail collector, a NJ mineral collector, or if you're just a fan of good quality specimens of uncommon minerals, don't miss out on this beauty. This piece comes from the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired from mining, but spent many years underground, including as the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures". The piece was given to Dave as a gift by his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar whose label accompanies the piece. The specimen was collected in May of 1986.