Miguelromeroite (originally Villyaellenite) (very rare)

Item Description

An incredibly rare specimen from the Veta Negra Mine, featuring soft pink colored crystal aggregates of Miguelromeroite sitting on oxidized matrix According to Chet's collection catalogue, this specimen was originally sold as Villyaellenite, which is a rare manganese calcium arsenate species, but after further testing, all of these pieces were revealed to be Miguelromeroite, a closely related, calcium-free arsenate species. The piece was obtained directly from Terry Szenics - the namesake for Szenicsite - at the Franklin Mineral Show in New Jersey in September 2004. Szenics personally imported the piece from Chile. If you collect locality specimens, this is exactly the kind of specimen to add to your collection, because one rarely has the opportunity to pick up a piece of this material, especially now since nothing is has come from the locality in years. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #20766CL. 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.