Xenotime-(Y)

Item Description

A rarely seen and good sized example of Xenotime-(Y) from Alexander County, North Carolina. The piece is a sold mass, with no associations or matrix, and while it's not fully crystallized, there are some well-defined, sharp, lustrous faces that can be seen in certain spots. I will say that this is the ONLY specimen of Xenotime that we've had to offer from Alexander County, and the fact that it's well over 4 cm makes it's a worthwhile addition to any rarities suite or a collection of minerals from the Tar Heel State.
The piece comes with labels from noted East Coast collectors, Joe Cilen (1916-1997) along with Neal Yedlin (1908-1977) whose collection numbers are painted on the back of the specimen and match the corresponding labels.
From the collection of Norman Kennedy ("Kenny") Gay (1953-2023), a geologist, geoscience educator and mineral collector from North Carolina. (#M610 B.1) Kenny worked for North Carolina Geological Survey starting 1995, and he was a member of the adjunct faculty at Wesleyan College, and a professor of geology since 2001. He assembled a large collection of worldwide minerals specimens, though he focused mainly on minerals of North Carolina. Kenny did substantial work documenting all of the significant mineral occurrences and mining/mineral collecting in North Carolina. He might be best associated with the Redmond Mine, where the rare extremely rare lead sulfate Kennygayite was discovered and named in his honor in 2022. Kenny was the first person to collect specimens at this locality, which lead Jason Smith to take an interest in this assemblage, and later name a mineral in Kenny's honor.