Pyrosmalite-(Mn) (rare) (ex Rich Kosnar and Pat Gross Collections)

Item Description

One of the very few specimens of Pyrosmalite-(Mn) (formerly Manganpyrosmalite) from Sterling Hill that I have seen. The piece features a small (approx 1 mm), sharp, gemmy, lustrous, doubly-terminated hexagonal prism of light sherry colored Pyrosmalite-(Mn) on matrix. I have photographed the crystal under the micrscope to better illustrate its quality. I'm told that the best of these specimens were mined in 1980, which matches the date on the bottom of the micromount box from Pat Gross, who obtained the piece on May 17th of that year from noted Franklin mineral dealer, Ewald Gerstmann. The piece later came to the collection of Richard Kosnar. A worthwhile and rarely seen specimen featuring an excellent quality example of this sought after species from Sterling Hill.