Liefite with Nenadkevichite and Rhodochrosite (ex Francesco Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful rarity association specimen from the famous locality at Mont Saint-Hilaire featuring a radial "spray" of Leifite with micro golden-brown colored, gemmy crystals of Nenadkevichite and minor reddish-brown Rhodochrosite. Now the Nenadkevichite crystals are fairly small, but they are beautiful to view under the microscope. We have photographed the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. Considering that Nenadkevichite has only been found in just over a dozen localities in the world, this is a great opportunity for a rarities collector to pick up a specimen with this hydrated sodium niobium cyclosilicate association. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #1452). 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.