Prehnite is the first mineral to be named after a person. Prehnite was first
      described in 1989 and named after a dutch Colonel Hendrik Von
      Prehn (1733-1785) commander of the military forces of the Dutch
      colony at the Cape of Good Hope. Prehnite often occurs with zeolites
      and is mistakenly referred to as a zeolite.

	Prehnite is found in many countries worldwide but gem grade prehnite is rare.
      Prehnite was discovered in the Wave Hill area of Northern Territory
      many years ago and during the 1960s, several fossickers sold
      a few Kgs of low to medium grade material to dealers in Victoria.
      These first shipments of prehnite were sent to Germany for carving
      but nothing more was mined after those early shipments.

During the 1970s, Gerald Pauley had the good fortune to gain permission
to access old mine reports at the Bureau of Mineral Resources in Darwin,
      prior to it being blown away by Cyclone 'Tracey'. He discovered
      articles about various gemstones near Wave Hill.

On the first trip to Wave Hill, in 1974, he realised the potential of the
      area to produce fine quality prehnite and also identified other
      gem and mineral reserves of possible economic significance; namely:
      Agate, Amethyst, Smoky Quartz and Red Jasper (Chicken Blood Jasper).
 After yearsof prospecting the area, in the early 1980's he discovered
what is believed to be the finest deposit of gem grade prehnite in
	 the world. In March 2013, Linna Huang purchased
	 the almost 10 Sq. Kilometre lease and commenced the first
	 full scale mining operation on the reserve.

Over years since the 1980s surface collecting produced a few Kgs of high
	grade prehnite but after years of fossicking and hand collecting the
      surface deposits were depleted. by observation, surface material
      is highly crazed and faded due to the hostile extremes of temperature
      in the semi-desert area where the lease is situated. Daytime
      temperatures in the desert area can be as high as 35°C but
      at night it can freeze. This cause the prehnite to fracture and
      since the early discovery of the gem grade prehnite in the early
      1980s no-one has seen true high grade prehnite.
      Heavy earth moving equipment was brought in to open, and prove, the deposit.
      The results were outstanding with the best quality prehnite ever
      seen being uncovered a few centimetres below the surface. A further
      10 centimetres down harder basalt was encountered and the equipment
      failed to be effective in ripping the basalt efficiently. Prehnite
      was found in the harder basalt but it will have to wait until
      the next mining season. After cleaning a few tonnes of the mined
      material we were excited too see the quality.
      This fine prehnite will soon be available commercially on the international
market as high gem grade rough and as cut stone and in jewellery.