Fluorite (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

Fluorites from the Blanchard mine are about as classic as minerals from the southwestern U.S. get. This piece features sharp, gem/gemmy cubic Fluorite crystals which show a color shift from a teal-blue color in sunlight to a purplish color in halogen lighting. The cubes measure up to 6 mm and have a typical soft matte luster seen at this mine, but some of the crystals very gemmy inside and are sitting on contrasting white matrix. Minor dark grey-black Galena can be seen on the specimen as well. Collecting at this locality is not easy, and typically the Fluorite specimens are not 100% damage free. This piece has some nicks, but many crystals are undamaged. Overall, it is an attractive and colorful display specimen of this well known material from this great mine in New Mexico. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #10294CL. 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.