Diopside with Calcite ex. Lauf Coll.

Item Description

Diopside in large greenish blocky, terminated crystals with smaller crystals and minor fluorite, in massive pink calcite, make this a photogenic piece for the cover of the book on the Pyroxene group of minerals, one of the most important groups of minerals to form rocks but one of the rarest to give us beautiful specimens. This is a somewhat unique specimen in that this is actually a not so ugly diopside from this classic locality! It has shape, color contrast to the matrix, and luster. The large crystal is 3.5 cm tall, and looks twinned as a bonus. This specimen is from the author's own collection (purchased in 2006) and is a cover of the important reference series mineral monograph books, Collector's Guide to the Pyroxene group, by Dr. Bob Lauf. Robert Lauf grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois, ultimately receiving a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering. His scientific career included over twenty years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he conducted research on topics ranging from nuclear fuel, coal by-products, materials synthesis, microwave processing, sensors, optical materials, and biomineralization. This item comes with a copy of the corresponding book, as shown.