Pargasite ex. Lauf Coll.

Item Description

Pargasite is one of those rock-forming minerals never thought of as beautiful or valuable until these strange neon-green things started coming out of Vietnam about 20 years ago in a slow trickle, and they are so colorful and sharp that they caught everybody's eyes. This specimen features a sharp 3-cm-tall crystal exposed in well-balanced marble matrix, making for a fine display specimen. Acquired from Mountain Minerals in 2008, this was one of the first good ones we saw. Strongly fluorescent and bluish-green under UV light. This specimen is from the author's own collection and is a cover of the important reference series mineral monograph books, Collector's Guide to the Amphibole group, by Dr. Bob Lauf. Robert Lauf grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois, ultimately receiving a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering. His scientific career included over twenty years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he conducted research on topics ranging from nuclear fuel, coal by-products, materials synthesis, microwave processing, sensors, optical materials, and biomineralization. This item comes with a copy of the corresponding book, as shown.