Ilmenite (ex Rich Kosnar and Pat Gross Collections)

Item Description

The mines around Franklin have produced hundreds of species, including some that you wouldn't expect, like Ilmenite. This piece is a micro specimen of Ilmenite, and it is one of the only specimens of the species that I've seen from Franklin. The crystals are very similar to Hematite in form and optical appearance showing hexagonal "plates" with a dark silvery-grey metallic color. I did my best to photograph them under the microscope, but this is truly a micro specimen, and the crystals are probably no bigger than 1 mm at their longest dimension. The piece originally came from the collection of Pat Gross to Rich Kosnar in 1991. I have photographed Pat's hand-written label on the lid of the black plastic micromount box, which states that it is from the Buckwheat Mine (Buckwheat Pit).