Stilbite-Ca on Calcite (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

Stilbite isn't necessarily one of the species that one thinks of when it comes to Arkansas Minerals, but the specimens from the Granite Mountain Area are attractive representations of the species. To be accurate, we didn't have this specimen tested to see which species of Stilbite it is, but we're almost certain that it's Stilbite-Ca. With that said, this piece features attractive, semi-radial group of lustrous, beautiful orange-brown colored Stilbite comprising sharp, gemmy individual orthorhombic prims with defined flat basal terminations. The crystals are actually very fun to view with magnification, as they are quite gemmy and really glow with color when backlit. The matrix seems to be a combination of K-Feldspar and black-green colored Aegirine, along with broad, layered, blades of creamy white Calcite ("blatterspat"). This is actually the first time I've seen crystallized Calcite like this from the Granite Mountain Quarry #1. From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.