Gyrolite (large spheres) with Okenite (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

I know that Indian Zeolites and associated species are everywhere, but you must appreciate them for what they are. They are simply some of the finest crystallized examples of their respective species extant. This piece is from a find in the 1990s and features several good quality, soft yellow-green color Gyrolite "spheres" measuring up to a whopping 4.7 cm associated with silky white radial growths of Okenite and a single, gemmy, colorless, blocky Apophyllite crystal on basalt matrix. Good quality overall, though the front of the piece is contacted where it was attached to pocket wall. You never see Gyrolite "balls" this size, they rarely exceed 2 cm in my experience. One day (eventually) India will not produce any more of these Zeolites (and associated species), and they will more than likely receive great recognition for being the amazing display specimens that they are. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #17079CL. 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.