Torbernite (historic material) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

A classic older specimen from the Shinkolobwe Mine in DR Congo featuring a rich coverage of forest-green, tabular crystals of Torbernite on oxidized matrix. The crystals look great up close, and we've photographed them with a macro lens to better illustrate their quality. There are some bruises on the piece, so it's not 100% pristine, but still a good quality example of these seldom seen pieces from this well-known copper mine which dates back to the 1920s. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #20587CL. 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.