Stilbite Subgroup

Item Description

This piece is labeled as coming from "near Manjuri, Bengal, India", which is an historical region in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent, but I've never seen a piece of Stilbite reported from this area before. It could be from the Deccan Trap in Maharashtra (which is all the way on the western side of India), or possibly indeed from Bengal from an isolated discovery. There is some pedigree to support the Bengal locality, as the piece is accompanied by a label from the Geological Museum of Calcutta, along with another label from Michigan Tech. (formerly Michigan College of Mines), but I will say that I have never seen another piece with this specific locality before. One additional note accompanies the specimen, which is reference to Rudy Tschernich's book Zeolites of the World, mentioning "Stilbite from Ranakpur" from the Journal of the Geological Society of India 12, No., 2, (1971): Pg. 191, but I can't find an exact locality match for Ranakpur that mentions Stilbite. With that said, this is certainly a different style of Stilbite from anything I can remember seeing from the Deccan Trap featuring a sold mass of rich salmon colored Stilbite, with a brownish hue on the terminations (Lauf's label supposes this could be Serpentine). A really interesting and unusual specimen for any fan of worldwide zeolites.
From the collection of longtime mineral collector Dr. Bob Lauf (Collection #2628), the author of the Mineral Collectors Guide books (Schiffer Publishing), widely seen at mineral shows and libraries. Robert Lauf grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois, ultimately receiving a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering. His scientific career included over twenty years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he conducted research on topics ranging from nuclear fuel, coal by-products, materials synthesis, microwave processing, sensors, optical materials, and biomineralization. He has been granted over forty U.S. Patents for his inventions, many of which have become successful industrial products. He is now a Registered Patent Agent and technology consultant.