Schorl with Albite

Item Description

An attractive miniature specimen featuring a fine, terminated, prismatic, lustrous, black Schorl crystal with minor white adhering Albite. There is almost a "cat's eye" effect that can be seen when the piece is rotated in the light, as the prism faces have a bit of chatoyance. The trigonal termination almost looks "frosted", but I think it might be a secondary deposition of either micro Tourmaline or another mineral. No damage, outside of the base where the crystal was detached from the pocket wall.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #18973CL, and the catalogue entry for the piece states that it was exported from China and imported into the United States by The Rocksmiths, and was purchased by Chet on February 8, 2001 (TGMS Show). 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.