Leucophoenicite and Chlorophoenicite (ex Rich Kosnar and Pat Gross Collections)

Item Description

Leucophoenicite is a rather rare Manganese Silicate, and Chlorophoenicite is a rather rare Manganese, Magnesium, Zinc Arsenate and both species are only found at a handful of world localities, most notably in the Franklin Mining District. This specimen is from the type locality for both species, and features white "needles" of Chlorophoenicite with reddish-pink Leucophoenicite on a minor amount of matrix. The piece is truly a micro specimen, and I have photographed the crystals under the micrscope to better illustrate their quality. This specimen comes from the collection of noted New Jersey collector, Pat Gross, and came from her to Rich Kosnar in 1991. It is still mounted in Pat's original micro box, with her hand-written label attached to the lid, along with a hand-written piece of paper glued to the base of the box that states there is Tephroite, Gageite and possibly Fluoborite on the piece as well. I have not had the piece analyzed, so I'm going off of the label for identification.