Bannisterite is an extremely rare black mica-like phyllosilicate mineral named in honour of Frederick Allen Bannister (1901-1971), former Keeper of Mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, London, who studied the original material from Benallt manganese mine in Wales. Eventually, it was fully characterized in 1967 using combined data from Benallt mine and richer specimens from Franklin, New Jersey. Ironically, exceptionally well-crystallized, and large, aggregates of Bannisterite were discovered in a cavity on 12 Level at the Zinc Corporation mine at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia in 1966 and these remain the world's best examples of this rare species, but were just too late to be used in the original description. This remarkably large, and usually attractive crystallized specimen is one of the world's finest specimens of this extremely unusual species, enhanced significantly by its association with embedded pink crystals of Rhodonite. With individual plates, or 'books' of Bannisterite reaching over 8 cm across, this cabinet-sized specimen is not only museum quality in terms of its size, but also for its display and research potential. It comes from Milton Lavers' famous Broken Hill collection.
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