Clinochlore var: Pennine (RARE locality specimen)

Item Description

A notably rare specimen of Clinochlore (var: Pennine) from the world-famous Långban Mine in Sweden, one of the world's premier localities. There are over 300 minerals found at this locality, and they are some of the most distinctive examples of their respective species ever found. Typically Clinochlore occurs in green colored crystals, but certain chromophores can really change the color, as is the case with the rich purple hues seen in chromium-bearing Clinochlore ("Kammererite") or the rare manganese-bearing examples from Långban. You can see the crystals on this specimen have a saturated vibrant orange color, which is quite rare for Clinochlore, and this particular variety (Pennine) is defined on mindat as a pseudo-trigonal variety of Clinochlore, but there is no mention of manganese content. For what it's worth, the label accompanying the specimen from Phil Scalisi refers to the variety as "Manganpenninite", and mindat classifies Penninite as a Si-rich, Fe-poor variety of Clinochlore. An additional label from English dealers Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd simply refers to the piece as Clinochlore. With that said, this is the best and ONLY specimen of this extremely rare material that we've had to offer from Långban. The crystals measure up to about 1.0 cm and are sitting on a dark grey-black matrix with patches of white Calcite. A really cool esoteric locality specimen for any fan of rarities or minerals from this prestigious locale.
From the collection of the beloved mineral dealer and collector Rock H. Currier (1940-2015) who was the long-time owner of Jewel Tunnel Imports (named after the large open vugs in basalt in India which were often filled with crystals). Collection #9393. Rock travelled the world in search of mineral specimens, and built and impressive collection over his lifetime. He was one of the more colorful and unforgettable figures in the mineral world. You can read more about Rock at the following links: (https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/currierrock/) (https://www.mindat.org/user-2982.html) (https://www.rockcurrier.com/).
This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-696438.html