Staurolite (twin) (RARE locality)

Item Description

This specimen is labeled in Chet's collection catalogue as coming from Martinsville, Virgina, and it's the only piece we've ever seen from this area. A quick glance on mindat.org shows only one other Staurolite listed from Henry County, so they're obivously rare. This piece features a well-formed "cross" twinned group of Staurolite with the larger of the two crystals measuring 2.7 cm, sitting on matrix. The Staurolites are well-formed with smooth faces and a deep brown color. A cool locality specimen for anybody interested in minerals of Virginia.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #2169CL. 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.