Olmiite (rare)

Item Description

An excellent, and good-sized aggregate of well-crystallized, rich pinkish-orange Olmiite, with minor associated white Bultfonteinite, free of matrix. The piece is actually very close to being a complete "floater", as it's not broken on the back, though not 100% fully crystallized (I can see some secondary and interrupted overgrowth), but largely complete and undamaged. Olmiite is one of those minerals that is almost exclusively tied to a single world locality (in this case the N'Chwaning II Mine), as 99% of all good specimens have been found there. This manganese analogue of Poldervaartite was named in honor of Filippo Olmi, an Italian mineralogist in 2006. Keep in mind that virtually all of these specimens were originally labeled as being Poldervaartite, which now has been determined to be an exceptionally rare species (speculation is that possibly ALL specimens labeled as Poldervaartite are actually Olmiite). The color of Olmiite is so distinctive and unique that it really stands out as one of the most significant NEWLY discovered minerals in recent memory.