FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jim Prentiss]

Hello Everyone,

I recently acquired a flat of specimens from Mina Bianca, Baveno, Italy, that was, foremost, supposed to be Beidellite, with other minerals mentioned. After a couple of hours optically spelunking in the tiny vugs and crevices, I finally came up with the specimen below.

The field of view is 2 mm across and I estimate the crystals at around 0.04 to 0.06 mm, which is a little larger than what is mentioned in the Handbook of Mineralogy. They are hexagonal (pseudohexagonal), and light reddish-brown, which covers the visual clues.

Can any of our members with knowledge of Italian Minerals possibly confirm my finding? I can find no reference for Beidellite in Italy at all.

Additionally, Zinnwaldite is one of the other minerals mentioned and I found numerous examples but the second photo I have submitted here at first looked like Zinnwaldite untill I got a clearer shot of it and it appears to be some sort of hollow "mold" of a hexagonal or pseudohexagonal crystal. Again I ask any of our Italian experts, what could this be? Could it be Albite making the geometric shape?

Thank you,

Jim Prentiss