Hemimorphite (classic locality) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

Of the hundreds of mineral species found at Franklin and Sterling Hill, the vast majority of them are small to micro in size. Larger display specimens are not terribly common, so when you have a piece like this, it's a great change of pace. This cabinet sized display specimen features off-white, lustrous, translucent crystal aggregates of Hemimorphite on minor matrix. The material was often labeled "Calamine" instead of Hemimorphite on old labels, and it's locally referred to as "Maggot Ore". This piece is a good representative example of the material, despite some bruising and contacted areas. You don't see a lot of Franklin / Sterling Hill material on the market anymore, and pieces like this are always popular among collectors for their size and displayability. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #2303CL. 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.