Hydroxylherderite with Cookeite

specimen number:
2354130

location:
Bennett Quarry, Buckfield, Oxford Co., Maine, USA

description:
Lustrous colorless crystals of hydroxylherderite to 0.3 cm in size thickly crystallized across the front side of a cookeite crystal rich matrix. Nice example for the species.

Situated in Oxford County, Maine, the Bennett Quarry near Buckfield is a classic granitic pegmatite deposit historically worked for industrial feldspar, quartz, and gemstone production during the early and mid 20th century. The complexly zoned pegmatite cuts through older regional metamorphic rocks and has long attracted mineralogists and field collectors for its rich assemblage of rare-element minerals. Among these is hydroxylherderite, a scarce beryllium-bearing phosphate mineral that occurs in late-stage hydrothermal pockets and vugs, often forming pale, translucent to transparent crystals prized by systematic mineral collectors.

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