Ramsdellite (classic material)

Item Description

Ramsdellite is not often seen in fine crystallized examples, and the most iconic / eye-catching specimens are those from Lake Valley, New Mexico. Ramsdellite is a fairly uncommon manganese oxide is a dimorph of Pyrolusite, and they're chemical and physical relationship has led some people to label some of these pieces as pseudomorphs of Pyrolusite after Ramsdellite. According to mindat.org Ramsdellite, "forms by inversion of Pyrolusite or oxidative dehydrogenation of Groutite". This is a classic specimen of Ramsdellite from the type locality, and was almost certainly collected by Dick Jones, according to his son Roy, who said that Dick found the original material, and collected the best examples of the species at the type locality. What really stands out about this particular piece is that it's not a muddled mass, but lovely display specimen featuring distinct, sharp, lustrous orthorhombic prismatic crystals in beautiful diverging and flowing aggregates. The largest crystal measures 1.3 cm. This piece has very little damage, save the periphery where it was removed from the pocket. The luster is rather bright for the material, and what I would call "directional" as it seems to change when rotated in the light, and appears brighter at certain angles than others. If you collect New Mexico minerals, or good examples of U.S. minerals, this is a nice example of these fairly hard to find pieces.