Laumontite and Calcite

Item Description

Bone-white, pearlescent, elongated Laumontite prisms are dramatically highlighted against the striking, rich jackstraw jumble of buff-colored paper calcite crystals. The impressive large 5.7 cm prism on the left is a classic fishtail terminated twin with the larger 5.9 cm laumontite on the right being a crystal section. The large well-known, underground and open pit Pine Creek tungsten mine operated from 1918 to 1986 and is noted for exceptional and large laumontite crystals, to 15 cm. Laumontite is a Zeolite Group species. Ex Kurt Hefendehl Collection, a well-known German collector who amassed a world-wide collection of over 6000 pieces. Combination specimens with this calcite richness and coverage are very uncommon from the locality and this is a good one. We have seen these in collections dated to the 1950s-1970s collecting era.