The mineral was first studied by Shannon (1924), who concluded on the basis of chemical data only that it was a new species and proposed the name benjaminite. Nuffield (1953) re-examined the type specimen and determined that Shannon’s “benjaminite” was actually aikinite. Nuffield, however, noted a minute amount of another phase in the type specimen that deviated from Shannon’s description and analytical data. He described it as a new species retaining Shannon’s name for the mineral. Owing to erroneous data, benjaminite was briefly discredited (1973-1974). The type specimen from TL1 and specimens from two Canadian localities were investigated by Nuffield (1975) and Harris & Chen (1975), and data derived from all three localities were used in a joint proposal to IMA CNMMN for the revalidation of the species.
Outlaw Mine, Round Mountain Mining District, Toquima Range, Nye County, Nevada, USA