Spodumene var: Kunzite (classic material)

Item Description

A wonderful old-time classic example of Kunzite from the area where it was first discovered in the early 1900s. Chet's collection catalogue only lists it as coming from Pala, so it's hard to say which specific mine it was found, e.g., The Pala Chief, The White Queen, etc. The piece is a gemmy, lovely pink colored, flattened prismatic doubly-terminated crystal, free of matrix. Basically a complete "floater" and good quality for what it is. Specimen weight is 19.6 grams.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #20529CL. 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.