Lepidolite overgrowing Muscovite

Item Description

Barra do Salinas is probably best known for its attractive Tourmaline crystals, but this area has produced a good number of various attractive pegmatite minerals. Although most people don't think of it as a big Mica producer, there have been some really distinctive and attractive examples that have come out of the years. This piece is what has been referred to as "Lepidolite" for many years, but it must be noted that Lepidolite is no longer a valid mineral species, and according to the information we found, Lepidolite is now defined as a mineral in the so-called Polylithionite-Trilithionite series. Regardless, the term Lepidolite is still used commonly, and we're sticking with it for the purpose of this listing. this piece is a beautiful dual-colored specimen of mica with a purple Lepidolite rind and a pale golden core of Muscovite. With strong backlighting, you can get some color / translucency to come through the Muscovite. A bit of light beige colored Feldspar can be seen on the exterior of the piece for a nice touch. This piece was mined in the early 2000s. Very attractive with beautiful form and coloration. This piece comes from the personal collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman, the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. Dave is now retired from mining, but he worked for decades in various mines underground in Colorado, as a miner, mechanic, engineer, shift boss and foreman. His biggest claim to fame is that he was the foreman and the primary person in charge of mining and specimen recovery at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado in the 1970s alongside his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar. This project what was the FIRST ever operation for specimen recovery at this historic locality. A full-page photograph of Dave can be seen mining underground at the Sweet Home in on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".