Pseudomalachite (large rare locality specimen)

Item Description

This is easily the largest example of this incredibly rare material that we've had to offer. This piece hails from the historic Schuyler Copper Mine in North Arlington, New Jersey, which according to Wikipedia dates back to 1715, "making it the earliest copper mine in New Jersey and one of the oldest in the United States". Copper minerals like Chalcocite, Chrysocolla, Malachite, Azurite and Cuprite are known for this mine, but Pseudomalachite is one of the greater rarities from this historic locale. This piece is a robust large cabinet specimen loaded with dozens upon dozens of tiny spherical "balls" of rich forest green Pseudomalachite sitting on sandstone matrix. Some small off-white colored bladed crystals of Baryte can be seen on one of the back corners of the specimen. You simply don't see large cabinet sized examples of this material on the market, and if you're a fan of secondary copper minerals, historic localities or specimens from the East Coast of the United States, don't miss out on this one, as you're likely to never see another like it. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #17703CL. 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.