Chamosite ("Thuringite") pseudomorph after Almandine

Michigamme Mine, Michigamme, Marquette iron range, Marquette County, Michigan
Thumbnail, 2.6 x 2.0 x 1.6 cm
Start Time: 01/11/2018 6:45:00 pm (CST)
End Time: 01/18/2018 6:45:00 pm (CST)
Auction Closed

Item Description

Thuringite is an outdated name for the ferroan variety of Chamosite, a Chlorite Group mineral. Here we have a good sized, sharp, fairly lustrous, textbook dodecahedral Almandine garnet crystal that has been pseudomorphed by silvery black Chamosite. The crystal is essentially a complet "floater" as I can't really find a point of attachment or any real damage. This is a classic material from the old iron mines of Marquette County. Rare and excellent historic material. I'm told that this material is also magnetic, but I couldn't get it to react to a magnet here at the office, so maybe it's only slightly magnetic.

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