Fluorite (purple and green crystals) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful small cabinet sized specimen of the elusive and beautiful material from the Surprise Mine featuring several sharp, good sized, gemmy octahedra which are predominantly purple in color, but the interior and lower section of the piece reveals a pleasing green hue creating some gorgeous bi-colored crystals. If you look near the base of the piece, you'll see some pale blue cubic Fluorites as well, which is interesting as there are rarely two distinct different crystal habits of Fluorite on the same piece like this. The largest Fluorite measures 2.8 cm across. The main Fluorite crystals are in good shape, and the only real damage is around the periphery where the piece was removed from the pocket wall. It's a showy specimen with good aesthetics and balance that displays nicely as you can see from the photos. If you're a Fluorite collector or a fan of New Mexico minerals, don't miss out on this hard to find, attractive specimen from a recent discovery in 2017. See the excellent article on the Cookes Peak District in a recent 2019 issue of Rocks & Minerals. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #0629CL. 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.