Columbite-(Mn) (labeled as Cassiterite)

Item Description

Please note: This specimen is labeled as Cassiterite, but the entry for the locality on mindat.org does not list the species as occurring from the McKinney Mine. With that said, it's possible that this is actually Columbite-(Mn) as the crystals have a slight dark reddish tinge when I look at them closely under magnification. If anyone has some insight as to the identity of the piece, please feel free to reach out and let us know. Dark veins run through the white/cream colored Feldspar matrix on all sides. The dark mineral is crystalline, not fully crystallized as far as I can see, so it's hard to identify it by morphology.
From the collection of Norman Kennedy ("Kenny") Gay (1953-2023), a geologist, geoscience educator and mineral collector from North Carolina. (#M261 C.1). Kenny worked for North Carolina Geological Survey starting 1995, and he was a member of the adjunct faculty at Wesleyan College, and a professor of geology since 2001. He assembled a large collection of worldwide minerals specimens, though he focused mainly on minerals of North Carolina. Kenny did substantial work documenting all of the significant mineral occurrences and mining/mineral collecting in North Carolina. He might be best associated with the Redmond Mine, where the rare extremely rare lead sulfate Kennygayite was discovered and named in his honor in 2022. Kenny was the first person to collect specimens at this locality, which lead Jason Smith to take an interest in this assemblage, and later name a mineral in Kenny's honor.