Zoisite

Item Description

Zoisite is probably most famous in the form of the classic blue crystals from Tanzania (Tanzanite), but in the 1990s, the Alpine-Type clefts in the high mountains of Pakistan produced some of the finest quality Zoisite crystals outside of Tanzania. This piece shows a distinct green color, richer than most you'll see in terms of Zoisite worldwide. This piece is a good example of this elusive material featuring sharp, lustrous, well-formed, prismatic crystals of Zoisite without matrix. The upper portion of the piece is not broken, it has contact terminations where it likely grew against the pocket wall. If you collect Alpine-Type / metamorphic minerals, don't miss out on this one. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #19124CL. 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.