Weloganite (rare classic material)

Item Description

Weloganite is a very rare sodium strontium zirconium carbonate species, and significant crystals have only been found from one world locality, the famous Francon Quarry in Quebec. The quarry produced world-class pieces a few decades ago, and will never be seen again, and the locality is complete shut down. Fine Weloganites are prized by collectors for their unique form, unusual chemistry and beautiful crystallization. This piece features many good quality, translucent, pale yellowish color crystal of Weloganite measuring up to 1.3 cm, sitting on matrix. It's quite rare to find so many crystals of Weloganite on a single specimen. This is an extremely rare mineral, and good specimens are few and far between, especially on matrix. It should be noted that the Francon Quarry is close to the famous Mt. Saint Hilaire Quarry in Quebec, so sometimes these specimens are labeled as coming from MSH, but they are only found at Francon. Please note that several crystals on the piece are contacted, but many closer to the center of the specimen are undamaged. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #18770CL, and the catalogue entry for the piece states that it was exported from China and imported into the United States by The Rocksmiths, and was purchased by Chet on February 8, 2001 (TGMS Show). 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.