Catapleiite pseudomorph after Sodalite (rare) (ex Van Tichelen Collection)

Item Description

Mount Saint-Hilaire is one of the world's most significant localities, and produces many "best in the world" specimens of a lot of minerals. This piece is a really interesting, unusual and RARE specimen featuring beige-brown colored Catapleiite which has actually formed pseudomorphs after preexisting crystals of Sodalite! Prismatic black Aegirine is piercing through the crystals. For a pseudomorph, the crystals are remarkably sharp and well-formed, showing the textbook doddecahedral form of the Sodalites! I honestly don't know if there are more pieces of this particular material, as this is the ONLY specimen I've seen featuring Catapleiite after Sodalite! It's specimens like this that make Mount Saint-Hilaire such a beloved locality for collectors. I'm told that collecting at the quarry is now forbidden by new ownership, so specimens will be nearly impossible to obtain unless they come from old collections. From the collection of Wouter Van Tichelen (#20030602).