Gahnite (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

This is one of only a handful of Gahnites that we've had to offer from Stratford over the years, and it has more crystals on this one specimen than all the other combined. This large miniature / small cabinet piece hosts many octahedral crystals of dark blue-black Gahnite, some of which are individual crystals, others are intergrown clusters, measuring up to about 4 mm, associated with dark brown prismatic crystals of Staurolite, on matrix. The crystals have good luster on the surface and show attractive triangular faces when you look closely. Gahnite is a member of the Spinel Group, and although it was considered for a time to be a zinc-bearing variety of Spinel, it is confirmed as a valid species today. A cool rarity for any fan of North Carolina minerals. The piece comes with a label from the collection of Steve Pullman along with an old Lidstrom's label, dating back to the 1960s-1970s.
From the collection of Norman Kennedy ("Kenny") Gay (1953-2023), a geologist, geoscience educator and mineral collector from North Carolina. (#M239 D.2). Kenny worked for North Carolina Geological Survey starting 1995, and he was a member of the adjunct faculty at Wesleyan College, and a professor of geology since 2001. He assembled a large collection of worldwide minerals specimens, though he focused mainly on minerals of North Carolina. Kenny did substantial work documenting all of the significant mineral occurrences and mining/mineral collecting in North Carolina. He might be best associated with the Redmond Mine, where the rare extremely rare lead sulfate Kennygayite was discovered and named in his honor in 2022. Kenny was the first person to collect specimens at this locality, which lead Jason Smith to take an interest in this assemblage, and later name a mineral in Kenny's honor.