Wawayandaite

Can you help make this a better article? Is there another locality(s) that we don't know about? Can you supply a picture of this mineral? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from Franklin?


Wawayandaite
Ca₁₂Mn₄₂+B₂Be₁₈Si₁₂O₄₆(OH,Cl)₃₀ monoclinic
USA
New Jersey, Sussex Co., Franklin Mining District, Franklin

There appears to be no image of this mineral available but we are working on that.

The type specimen was discovered by Herb Oboda (a New Jersey mineral dealer) in the Lazard Cahn collection when it was being sold by Gene Schlep. The specimen was labeled Margarosanite with Friedelite, Willemite and Calcite, Franklin, Sussex Co., New Jersey. The Wayayandaite was apparently thought to be Margarosanite. The collection had been given to Northwestern University in Chicago after Lazard Cahn died. His micromount collection went to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Northwestern University needed an expensive piece of analytical equipment so they sold the collection through Gene Schlep and Dick Kelly. Herb bought a piece of strawberry red freedelite 2x3x ¾ inch that has a square inch patch of a white pearly platy material on one side of the specimen. Herb Oboda thought it might be a new mineral, which was subsequently confirmed by Pete Dunn of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.¹ The specimen was eventually returned to Herb Oboda minus some of the Wawayandaite which was used in the various analysis. The specimen is thought to be the holotype specimen. The mineral was eventually given the name of Wawayandaite.² Considerable ill feelings were created over the ownership of this specimen and its subsequent return to Herb Oboda. The specimen and various correspondence about it is now in the collection of Peter Chen.
1. American Mineralogist Vol 75 p.405-408. 2. Personal communication from Herb Obodda, ~2001.
[Rock Currier May 2009]



Edited 12 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2009 09:56AM by Rock Currier.

Rock, I somehow missed contributing to this thought...so here goes. There are a few pieces floating out there and probably others unknown that have older generation Franklin, NJ red friedelite over willemite crystals. I have found two of these, with sparse coverage at best, in the last twenty years and Peter Chin probably has the richest one in existence loaded with pearly wawayandite plates. I think Peters piece came out of the Gage collection. I do not know if Peter has a photo of his but you might inquire, I do not at present have any photos either.
Steve.