Sabinaite (extremely rare)

Item Description

Sabinaite is an extremely rare hydrous zirconium bearing carbonate mineral, named after Ann Sabina, Canadian mineralogist with the Geological Survey of Canada, who first collected the mineral. The species only found in two places in the world. While the type locality is the famous Francon Quarry in Quebec, the most famous specimens are those from the prolific Poudrette Quarry at Mont Saint-Hilaire. This specimen is a great example of the material featuring small, sharp, well-formed, pseudo-hexagonal blades (they're actually monoclinic) of a golden-brown color, associated with minor black prismatic crystals of Aegirine and a partial crystal of reddish-pink Serandite on matrix. The Sabinaite crystals are not micros, you can see them with the naked eye, but they are best appreciated with some magnification. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #1612CL. 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.