Manandonite (extremely rare) (ex Matioli)

Item Description

Manandonite is an extremely rare clay mineral and member of the Kaolinite-Serpentine Group. It's a lithium aliminum silicate with boron that is only found in three places in the world, all of them are in Madagascar. The species has been known for over 100 years (named in 1912) and gets its name from the Manandona River near the type locality. It's amazing to me that in over 100 years the species has never been found outside of Madagascar. This specimen is a typical example of Manandonite featuring off-white semi-spherical groups of somewhat micaceous plates sitting on Albite matrix. If you're a rare species collector, this is something you need to have in your collection, especially if you collect minerals from the type locality! Ex Paolo Matioli Collection.