Cornetite (rare fine crystals) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

A very hard to find cabinet sized specimen featuring dozens if not hundreds of superb micro crystals of the rare copper hydroxy phosphate, Cornetite sitting atop a layer of soft greenish-blue colored Chrysocolla on Hematite-rich host rock matrix. A tiny bit of darker green botryoidal Pseudomalachite can be seen on the piece as well. Upon close inspection, you can see the Cornetite crystals are incredibly sharp and well formed, and they glow with an electric royal / Persian blue hue when backlit. We've photographed the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. These specimens came out in the late 1990s and were never found again, so if you missed out on them years ago, this is a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on one now. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #23026CL. According to Chet's collection catalogue, the piece was obtained directly from Terry Szenics - the namesake for Szenicsite - at the Franklin Mineral Show in New Jersey in September 2007. Szenics personally imported the piece from Chile. Chet Lemanski 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.