Dresserite (ridiculously rare) (ex Wouter van Tichelen Collection)

Item Description

Dresserite is a ridiculously rare hydrated barium aluminum carbonate species named after John Alexander Dresser in 1968. Dresser was a geologist and geologist, former directing geologist with the Quebec Department of Mines. Dresserite is only found in ONE place in the world, the type locality at the Francon Quarry in Montreal, Canada. The now defunct quarry literally sat in the middle of the city, but closed in 1981 and will never operate again. This large thumbnail specimen features several small white radiating "balls" of Dresserite measuring to about 1 mm associated with minor pale golden-grey colored crystals of Weloganite with Calcite on host rock matrix. We have photographed the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. If you collect rare minerals, or species from the type locality, do not pass this one up as they are impossible to find these days on the market. The piece comes from the collection of Wouter van Tichelen, and is accompanied by a label from Lazlo Horvath (specifically Monteregian Minerals).