Lemanskiite (incredibly rare) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection!)

Item Description

This is a fantastic specimen of rich Caribbean blue Lemanskiite associated with emerald-green Lammerite, free of matrix from the type locality for the species, the El Guanaco Mine in Chile. This specimen was collected in the late 1990s, and nothing of note has been found in many years from this locality. Lemanskiite is a very rare hydrated sodium calcium copper arsenate, found in less than 10 places on earth. The species is well known for its beautiful blue color, which comes from the fact that it's a dimorph of Lavendulan, another vibrant blue mineral. It's quite rare to have a specimen of a mineral species, from the collection of the person for whom the species was named! From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #14211CL. 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.