Artinite

specimen number:
2102187

location:
Spring Street, Staten Island, New York, USA

description:
Classic specimen from New York City, white acicular crystals of artinite covering most of the top of matrix. In good condition. This one from the early 1960s.

The Spring Street artinite occurrence, located in Staten Island, Richmond County, New York, is a classic urban mineral locality famous for its exceptional magnesium carbonate specimens. Geologically, the site is situated within the Staten Island Serpentinite, a large body of ultramafic rock that forms the backbone of the island. The artinite formed as a secondary mineral through the low-temperature hydrothermal alteration of the serpentinite, appearing as delicate, snow-white radiating acicular sprays and silky tufts within fractures and veins. Historically, the locality was exposed during the mid-20th century, specifically in the 1960s, during the construction of the Staten Island Expressway and residential development along Spring Street. While never an industrial mine, the site became world-famous among mineralogists for producing artinite crystals that rivaled those from the best localities in Italy and California. Today, the occurrence is largely inaccessible due to urban development and private property restrictions, but it remains a legendary chapter in the mineralogy of New York City, with specimens preserved in major museum collections globally.

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