Corundum var: Sapphire

Item Description

Aliabad is a lesser-known Corundum deposit in Pakistan, but the best pieces from this locality are actually very fine quality. We typically see more Rubies from Aliabad, but there have been some nice Sapphires over the years as well. This piece features a sharp, well-formed, trigonal crystal of Sapphire measuring 1.6 cm, sitting on white Calcite matrix with dark bronze colored Phlogopite Mica. The Sapphire has a purple hue, but there's a small amount of pink in there as well, best seen when the crystal is backlit. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #18861CL. Chet 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.