Fluorite and Schorl on Orthoclase (''Carlsbad'' Twin)

Item Description

An attractive near "floater" specimen from Erongo featuring a cream colored Carlsbad twin of Orthoclase with graceful etching on the surface, which plays host to gemmy green cubes of Fluorite measuring up to 5 mm on edge, and a few prismatic black Schorl crystals measuring up to 1.3 cm long. The largest Schorl crystal has a "fibrous" termination, with dozens of tiny acicular points on one end. Minor imperfections can be seen, but the piece is largely pristine and beautiful in person.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #17331CL. The piece was originally from the collection of Dan Serebrakian. 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.