Home > Continental Europe – December 31 > MS0862 Laueite, Strunzite

Laueite, Strunzite - Sold


Strunzite (Frondel, 1958; abstracted here.) and laueite (Strunz, 1958; abstracted here) are manganese iron phosphate minerals, differing mostly in water content. Strunzite is named after Hugo Strunz, (1910-2006), professor of mineralogy at the Berlin Technical University. Laueite is named in honor of Max von Laue (1879-1960), German physicist who received the Nobel prize for his discovery of X-ray diffraction. Abundant yellow-orange crystals of laueite to 1 mm form a continuous druse over the top of this piece. Quite rich! Strunzite forms minor straw yellow matted fibers to 3 mm in this iron gossan type matrix. This specimen is part of the personal collection of Ralph Merrill, proprietor of the prolific mail order business Minerals Unlimited. Merrill's collection card and label also ship with the specimen.