Karnasurtite-(Ce) (incredibly rare) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

Karnasurtite-(Ce) is a complex rare-earth neosilicate species that is only found in four places in the world. This piece is from the type locality for the species (the Hackmanite Stock {Pegmatite No. 62} - though the label accompanying the piece states it is from "Vein #60") which is located on Karnasurt Mountain in the northern half of Kola Peninsula. This piece features small pastel golden-yellow patches of Karnasurtite-(Ce) sitting atop a matrix comprised of white Natrolite, cream-white Polylithionite and pastel blue-white Sodalite, along with some unidentified patches of a translucent smoky colored mineral. This is an incredibly rare mineral, virtually impossible to find on the market, and a must-have for any fan of species from the type locality or a systematic species collector. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #3730CL. 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.