Hedenbergite (''Faden'')

Item Description

There are a few minerals that are known for form in "Faden" style growth, like Epidote and Quartz. This piece is a much rarer example of a Hedenbergite "Faden" from Tormiq, a well-known Alpine cleft locality in the high mountains of Pakistan. Going back to the mid to late 1990s, we saw many good quality specimens of Epidote coming from this locality, but the Hedenbergite specimens are notably hard to find. It has become increasingly rare to find excellent specimens such as this from Tormiq in recent years, regardless of the species. The Pakistani specimens are seemingly identical to their classic European Alpine counterparts, and an argument can be made that in certain instances, the European specimens have been surpassed with regard to overall quality and gemminess. This specimen is an aesthetic, multi-terminated, sharp, lustrous "Faden" crystal group featuring dark green-black colored crystals with only a tiny bit of matrix. The piece is in very good shape, very little damage. One of the best Hedenbergite "Fadens" I can remember having to offer in the auctions.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #18964CL, and the catalogue entry for the piece states that it was exported from China and imported into the United States by The Rocksmiths, and was purchased by Chet on February 8, 2001 (TGMS Show). 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.