Perovskite (Nb-bearing) ("Dysanalyte") (rare) (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

This specimen was labeled as "Dysanalite", formerly a legitimate species, but now is defined as a Nb-bearing variety of Perovskite. While the first described examples of this material came from Germany, the most well-known and finest representations are those from the famous Magnet Cove area in Arkansas. This single crystal is nearly a complete "floater" showing excellent, sharp, smooth faces with a predominantly octahedral habit and small cubic modifications on the corners. The color is a dark reddish-bronze hue. The crystal has a bit of embedded host rock on the back, but it's essentially complete all the way around. It's rather difficult to get your hands on such a well-formed euhedral textbook crystal of this material, and if you collect rare material, thumbnails, or minerals from either Magnet Cover or Arkansas in general, don't pass this one up. From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.