Prehnite (Specimen #100213)

Mineral(s): Prehnite; Laumontite, Babingtonite 

Location: Prospect Park Quarry, Prospect Park, Passaic County, New Jersey, USA 

Size: 11.6 cm x 8.6 cm x 3.7 cm 

Description: This specimen is an attractive piece consisting of beautiful, pale apple-green coloured spheres of Prehnite sitting atop ‘layers’ of prehnite on basalt. The largest Prehnite "sphere" measures 1.6 cm across. The specimen shows spherical crystal growth, is lustrous and has blebs or laumontite randomly sprinkled on the prehnite. In addition, a dusting of black Babingtonite along one edge adds contrast to the prehnite and laumontite. This is a classic prehnite specimen from a long-closed classic location and is in very good condition.

This former trap rock-aggregates deposit/quarry was opened in 1901 and it was sold to Warren Brothers in 1969. In the early 1980s, Tilcon New Jersey, Inc., purchased the quarry. Mineralization has been found in the interior of basalt pillows, in junction pockets between pillows, in veins, and within cavities of the amygdaloid. The quarry pit is currently being filled in for a future housing development.