Schorl (RARE locality specimen)

Item Description

The historic Tilly Foster Mine in New York dates back to the early 1800s and closed in 1897, so all specimens you see on the market are well over 100 years old. This locality is famous for species like Chondrodite, Brucite, Lizardite and Magnetite, but there are nearly 100 reported minerals from this mine, including Tourmaline. Now it should be noted that Tourmaline specimens from this locality are rarely seen on the market, and this particular specimen came to us labeled as Schorl, though it's possible it could be Dravite. With that said, I can't remember ever having any Tourmaline specimen from this locality to offer in the auctions, and based on what I have seen in the past, this one is certainly a very good example from this famous mine. This piece features a multi-crystal group of rather lustrous, sharp, jet-black, trigonal prisms, free of matrix. The front face of the specimen features many crystals in parallel growth, some of which are actually doubly-terminated, while the back of the piece is not 100% complete, as it has some separation marks where it was either intergrown with another Tourmaline crystal or the pocket wall. A truly fine quality and rare specimen for the locality, that would make a stellar addition to any Tourmaline collection or a suite of minerals from the Tilly Foster Mine.