Spinel

This is a curious piece. It was gifted to George by the wife of Dick Hronik. Dick had bought it at auction by the Mineralogical Society of District of Columbia in 1991. Being it went through the hands of prominent DC and Virginia collectors the attribution to Vesuvius VA is hard to question, though there is no source mentioning such an occurrence. The individual crystals reach 2.5cm and exhibit crude bi-pyramidal form. Ex George Loud

Locality: Vesuvius, Rockbridge County, Virginia

Composition: magnesium aluminum oxide