A marvelous example of type II schallerite, this specimen (FMM-3031) from the Franklin Mineral Museum shows dozens of rounded blebs (“augen”) of reddish-brown schallerite in a matrix of fine-grained pink rhodonite. The irregular, curved nature of the schallerite-rhodonite veins and the intervening slice of sheared and altered zinc ore are products of mineralization within irregular, lenticular openings that formed along a fault zone. Note also the elongate slivers of schallerite that formed along the ore contact but were subsequently sheared off and became embedded in rhodonite. Some of these were broken anew, with rhodonite filling the intervening spaces between offset fragments. On one side of this specimen is a thin coating of small, flat, hexagonal crystals of schallerite; these are great rarities. This specimen, formerly G-210 in the collection of Pete J. Dunn, was donated by Dr. Dunn to the Franklin Mineral Museum in September 2010. The front surface is sawn and polished.
Identifier: SCH1a Locality: Franklin mine, Franklin Specimen size: 11 x 4 x 3 cm Photo credit: Richard Schnurr (Fox Tail Images)