Lazulite (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

Lazulite is a rare magnesium aluminum phosphate, and some of the finest, highly sought after, and best known specimens of this material come from this locality. The area around Rapid Creek is only accessible for a few months in the summer for collecting (it's under snow and ice the rest of the year), and is some of the most treacherous terrain in the world for collecting specimens. This specimen is a great display piece featuring a predominant, razor-sharp, highly lustrous, well formed, monoclinic, very dark greenish-blue (nearly black) crystal of Lazulite measuring 1.1 cm with additional Lazulite crystals and associated with gemmy prismatic Quartz on matrix. Great quality and very eye-catching. Any Lazulite crystal over 1 cm from this locality is significant! From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #260). The piece comes with a label from Al McGuinness and Jean-Pierre Cand. Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.