Calcite (rare color) with Atacamite(?) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

Back in the late 1990s there was a discovery of these interesting and unique Calcite specimens at the Shuikoushan Mine in China. Their alluring green color combined with the uncommon habit of the crystals, led people to misidentify them as Smithsonite originally. After the initial discovery, very few more specimens were ever found, and they represent in some way a fond reminder of the beginning of the Chinese mineral boom that hit the western market during this time. With that said, this piece features dozens of fine, attractive, slightly "curved" trigonal crystal of soft yellowish-green colored Calcite measuring up to 1.8 cm on host rock matrix. Presumably the green color in these crystals is due to the presence of copper, but it's quite evident when you flip this piece over and see that there is a layer of bladed rich emerald green crystals with an adamantine luster, leading me to believe it's likely Atacamite, or certainly another copper bearing mineral species. On the front, most of the Calcite crystals are undamaged, but a few of them are contacted, so the piece is not 100% pristine. Overall, it's a great "time capsule" specimen showing what was coming out of the ground a couple decades ago. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #16416CL, and the catalogue entry for the piece states that it was exported from China and imported into the United States by The Rocksmiths, and was purchased by Chet on in February 2001 (TGMS Show). 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.