06/23/2026
Until late last semester, this specimen of variscite (a rather rare aluminum phosphate mineral similar to turquoise) was a roughly cut, unpolished slab sitting in a drawer in Calvin University's mineralogy teaching collection. We recognized it as an exceptional example from a classic locality: the Little Green Monster Mine in Utah's Oquirrh Mountains. The LGM mine is famous for producing the finest variscite in the world, as well as several rare species known from nowhere else. The mine was active almost exclusively from 1936-1940 when famed mineral collector Edwin Over and dealer Art Montgomery removed several tons of variscite-bearing nodules, many of which made their way to the Smithsonian Institution and other museums around the world. The mine was bulldozed and reclaimed in the 1990's, so good material like this is highly prized. Read more about the mine's history here: https://www.mindat.org/article.php/1672
The specimen was polished with lapidary equipment in the Calvin GEO Department. It will be available for viewing when the museum opens for afternoon hours (1-4 PM) from Aug. 3-28.
