Fluorite, Calcite, Barite
Update 4/13/18 - Unknown brown inclusions identified as nelenite per this convo https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindat/permalink/10154595717437465/
One of my favorite purchases from Tucson this year was this beautiful fluorite from Inner Mongolia. It is a wonderful fluorescent specimen accented by bladed barites and rhombohedral calcites. What makes this piece unique is the plethora of colors that are included within the fluorite octahedrons themselves. While these colors will appear under the traditional 253.7nm bulbs it can be viewed under 265nm UVC LEDs. I believe this will truly be a specimen for the future as LED technology in that space improves and we get brighter and brighter fluorescent reactions.
Locale: Inner Mongolia, China
Weight: 5lb | 2267 g
Dimensions (fluorite twin only): 3.8 x 2.5 x 2.0 in | 96 x 64 x 52 mm
Dimensions (total): 6.2 x 5.8 x 3.4 in | 157 x 146 x 86 mm
265nm SW
365nm LW
Will need to trim it eventually but I don't know how to do it without damaging the crystals!
A shot of the beautiful trigonal face and nelenite inclusions within the crystal itself
Plumbogummite ps pyromorphite
This plumbogummite pseudomorph is quite remarkable. It's an absolutely wonderful color combination with the fluorescent green plumbogummite and orange pyromorphite. What's interesting about this piece is that it shows less formation of plumbogummite. In most specimens posted online the plumbogummite shows beautiful white to light blue pseudomorphs. This piece is mostly pyromorphite. However, we can see the fluorescence of both. Unfortuantely the crystals have to be broken to reveal the fluorescent orange pyromorphite!
Locale: Yangshuo Mine, Guangxi, China
Weight: 10.7oz | 303g
Dimensions: 2.4 x 2.0 x 2.1 in | 62 x 51 x 53 mm
Fluorite with Petroleum Inclusions
A wonderful example of Cave-in-Rock fluorescence. Regular Eu2+ purple fluorescing fluorite with another generation of petroleum included fluorite. Interestingly the petroleum has given the fluorite a very dark purple color, almost to the point of looking black. It is only under direct light that you can see the shades of purple on this face, including the petroleum included one.
Locale: Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, USA
Weight: 4lb 2oz | 1871g
Dimensions: 6.0 x 4.0 x 3.5 in | 153 x 102 x 88 mm
However, on the underside of this specimen we see clear and gemmy massive fluorite. This side doesn't has almost no fluorescent inclusions and thus has a much lighter color compared to the front face. Also on this face are a lot of well formed and lustrous garnets.
Sulfohalite
Wonderful cluster of sulfohalites from Searles Lake.
Locale: Searles Lake, CA
Weight: .2oz | 6g
Dimensions: .86 x .72 x .79 in | 22 x 18 x 20 mm
Thénardite
A cluster of thénardite crystals with multiple well terminated crystals in all directions throughout the specimen. The largest of which being on top and measuring .5in or 12mm tall. Collected October 2017
Locale: Searles Lake, CA
Weight: .1oz | 4g
Dimensions: .64 x .70 x 1.0 in| 16 x 18 x 26 mm
Sulfohalite, Hanksite
One of the rarer minerals of Searles Lake; this specimen forms a wonderful contrast with a well formed, well terminated sulfohalite with barrel hanksites underneath. Collected October 2017.
Locale: Searles Lake, CA
Weight: .1oz | 4g
Dimensions: .65 x .62 x .91 in | 17 x 16 x 23 mm
Hanksite on Matrix
My favorite piece from 2017's Searles Lake trip. A classic example of a Searles Lake barrel hanksite on trona with a lot of smaller hanksites surrounding. Surprisingly hard to find pieces on matrix while we were there. Loose crystals aplenty but I love the overall aesthetic of this piece.
Locale: Searles Lake, CA
Weight: 2lb 3.3oz | 1002g
Dimensions (hanksite only): 2.0 x 3.7 x 1.8 in | 52 x 94 x 46 mm
Dimensions (total): 5.7 x 4.3 x 4.2 in | 144 x 109 x 107 mm
Calcite, Aragonite, Hyalite, Caliche
One of the few pieces of Helvetia that I took home from last year's collecting trip. I absolutely love the multiple generations of calcite that this mine produces. The combination of minerals form a wonderful fluorescent combination.
Calcite - red, orange, white
Aragonite - botryoidal white coated with caliche
Hyalite - Green
Locale: Helvetia, AZ
Weight: 1lb 4.7oz | 586g
Dimensions: 5.1 x 2.1 x 3.0 in | 129 x 52 x 77 mm
Calcite, Fluorite
One of the best pieces of calcite, fluorite I had found during 2017's Tucson show. There's always a lot of calcite and fluorites from the area but this one caught my eye. It was the combination of wonderful octahedral fluorites with colorful calcites under my LW light.
Locale: Huanggang Mine, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia
Weight: 9.3oz | 265g
Dimensions: 3.9 x 3.5 x 1.9 in | 98 x 88 x 47 mm
Color Changing Fluorescence - Fluorite
One of the interesting red fluorescing fluorites that was the subject of last year's Tucson show. Amazing and bright red fluorescing fluorites with a twist! It was something that I had noticed while photographing the specimen. I noticed that it had been going from a bright red to a dimmer shade all the way to purple fluorescence under my 365nm LWOD light. At first I thought it was my imagination but after some further testing it turns out I was right! Luckily this seems to be a repeatable process with the purple eventually going back to the red it originally was. Below is a shot of an in-between transition. Beautiful red fluorescing cubes with purple edges.
Locale: Mapimi, Durango, Mexico
Weight: 3.1oz | 87g
Dimensions: 3.5 x 1.8 x 1.3 in | 90 x 46 x 33 mm
Fluorapatite, Albite
One of my older photos. I thought I had uploaded it but apparently not. It's one of the nicer apatites I've seen come out of the Skardu area. Sharp terminations all around and several growths of smaller apatites. It's lacking that gem quality that some have but I don't usually see too many of those without being small flat crystals or internally fractured. Note that the albite is non fluorescent. It is simply the reflection of the UV light and dust.
Locale: Skardu, Pakistan
Weight: 1.6oz | 45g
Dimensions (apatite only): 1.1 x .85 x 1.7 in | 27 x 22 x 44 mm
Dimensions (including albite):1.2 x 1.3 x 2 in | 30 x 33 x 51 mm
365nm LW
Daylight
Calcite, Fluorite
A classic fluorescent combo. You typically see the calcite fluorites from China or Morocco and they make wonderful specimens as they're well crystallized and brightly fluorescent. This Schickler mine material is mildly interesting though in that the fluorite is sandwiched between the calcite layers.
Locale: Schickler Mine, Wilberforce, Ontario, Canada
Weight: 1lb 1.4oz | 493g
Dimensions 3.5 x 4.0 x 2.6 in | 90 x 101 x 65 mm
Daylight
365nm LW
253.7nm SW
365nm LW + 253.7nm SW
Daylight
365nm LW + 253.7nm SW
Tenebrescent Scapolite var. Marialite
For a while I've been infatuated with tenebrescence or photochromism in minerals. That is to say the ability for that mineral to change color when put under UV light and back. In this case the marialite goes from a clear white in daylight to a dark blue after you put it under LW. This process can then be reversed by exposing it to white light. I've been infatuated with this phenomenon ever since I learned about it in the minerals of Greenland, specifically the hackmanite and tugtupite. However, I was never able to win any eBay listings for a price that I wanted. Not being able to crave this desire I decided to look up other listings for tenebrescent minerals. That's when I came across the marialite (though the dealers there mostly refer to it as scapolite) from Pitwak. It greatly appealed to me as it had the same deep color change that Greenland had while forming beautiful crystals. That was 3 years ago and I've since been searching for great crystals like this. I haven't even had the remote thought of purchasing any Greenland fluorescents for my collection.
Of note on this specimen is that it shows little tenebrescent response under 253.7nm SW. The response is strongest under 365nm LW. This is typically the other way around where the strongest response is achieved under SW. This specimen has also been irradiated. Funnily enough the cousin of the miner that collected this specimen got in contact with me through Facebook. Often times Pakistani mineral dealers will try to sell by sending friend request to people in mineral groups en masse. I usually just show them this specimen and say that I'm looking for at least this or better. That's when it was recognized by the miner's cousin. I'm inclined to believe him as he provided up to date photographs of Pitwak mine that aren't available elsewhere on the web.
Locale: Pitwak Mine, Kokscha Valley, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
Weight: 6.1oz | 174g
Dimensions: 3.3 x 1.9 x 1.4 in| 83 x 48 x 37 mm
Calcite, Chert, Travertine
Collected on the Gem-O-Rama trip (field report being written!) after the day 1 events had concluded. This is a wonderful example of sedimentary fluorescence with several generations of massive calcite (fl white & cream) on the top and travertine (fl light & darker brown) on the bottom with a thin layer of chert in between. The piece I ultimately ended up keeping was the one on the right of this set. What originally drew me was that color combination of the fluorescent orange caliche on the bottom of the calcite and travertine combination.
Locale: Grimes & Sexton Quarry, Trona, CA
Weight: 2lb 9.5oz | 1174g
Dimensions: 4 x 3.8 x 3.6 in| 101 x 97 x 92 mm
365nm LW
Daylight
However, I knew it wouldn't last as this was destined to be split in half to reveal a fresh face. So, with rotary hammer in hand I started the trimming process and luckily made a perfect split! Surprising considering it already had a massive crack in the opposite direction. Works for me! The piece that'll join my collection is the one on the right as it has the face that originally attracted me as well as a wonderfully bright fresh face while the other will be given away.
365nm LW
Daylight
It also exhibits brief intense phosphorescence as shown in the video below. Surprisingly the whole face phosphoresces!
Fluorapatite
This fluorapatite was purchased in October 2017. However, it was mined in June 2016. This was purchased directly from the Alchuri Mine in Shigar Valley, Skardu through a mutual connection of mine. Why did it sit for so long? Well, a unique set of circumstances allow Skardu mine owners to be picky. Normally it's all about turnaround time and minerals are pushed to various gem and mineral markets throughout Pakistan. That's how we get so many minerals from Afghanistan and Pakistan across all forms of social media and sale platforms. However, Skardu in particular shares a border with China. As such it isn't uncommon for Chinese mineral dealers to travel and do business directly with the Pakistani people there. On top of that Skardu is an important area strategically. I believe it has something to do with Skardu being abundant in uranium but I'm not aware of all the details. As such there is a heavier military presence. With that relative safety provides tourism from around the world. While it is mostly Chinese, many people visit various areas of Skardu (it's not just mining!). All of this combined means that they don't have to send everything to the market. They'll get high rollers that'll spend 5 figures on a specimen or dealers that come to them to purchase in bulk. They can wait until "the right person" comes along to buy a specific specimen if it's especially good. However, as a fluorescent mineral collector, this particular specimen represents something very interesting. It phosphoresces! I've never seen an apatite phosphoresce like this and I've seen quite a lot from locales around the world. While I don't know exactly what causes it to phosphoresce I will note that there are a significant amount of manganese dendrites forming on the specimen itself. A common fluorescent activator of fluorapatite is manganese replacing calcium.
It makes me wonder what else would be found if I had the ability to lamp everything in that mine. What other fluorescent treasures are waiting?
Locale: Alchuri Mine, Skardu, Pakistan
Dimensions: 2.8 x 1.7 x 1.5 in | 71 x 43 x 39 mm
Weight: 3.3oz | 94g
Corundum var. Ruby
A very rich piece of Cascade Canyon ruby. I collected this the second time I went there. I normally wouldn't photograph a specimen before I felt it was prepared. However, the fluorescent photos are representative enough and show just how much ruby is in this piece. Still on my list of to-dos for this specimen are to media blast it so that the rubies are fully exposed and hence their full fluorescent response can be seen. It's very low on my to-do list though. Specimen has been repaired.
Locale: Cascade Canyon, San Gabriel Mts, San Bernardino Co., California
Dimensions: 5.7 x 2.7 x 3.5 in | 145 x 70 x 90 mm
Weight: 1lb 1.7oz | 503g
Smithsonite
This was one of the pieces that was gifted to me by Mark Cole while I was visiting his house for the total solar eclipse of 2017 and perusing his inventory. He had a wonderful assortment of specimens from all over the world. However, this one caught my eye. It is very aesthetically pleasing in daylight with stalactites and stalagmites being well preserved by the smithsonite. This combined with the wonderful pink fluorescence make this a worthy addition to my collection.
Locale: Mexico (?) Specimen did not come with a label. However, speciemens from Mexico typically have matrix like this.
Weight: 9oz | 254g
Dimensions: 2.9 x 1.9 x 2.8 in| 73 x 49 x 70 mm
253.7nm SW
Daylight
Hyalite
I had been wanting a Zacatecas hyalite ever since I first saw it at Jim's house. He had a wonderful specimen that had quite a large amount of daylight fluorescence. While I still haven't found my perfect specimen containing nothing but daylight fluorescing hyalite, this specimen did catch my interest. It has some unusual columnar hyalite crystals that are daylight fluorescing. It's been well documented that the cause of the fluorescence is a large amount of uranyl ions (though not that large. We're still talking parts per million) and it's fairly radioactive. Nothing too crazy. It only hit a max of 2400 CPM with a background of 140-150 as you'll see in the video following.
Locale: Zacatecas, Mexico
Weight: 5.2oz | 148g
Dimensions: 3.2 x 2.7 x 1.4 in | 80 x 69 x 35 mm
Chalcedony Covering Quartz Geode
Update: 10/23/17 It has been pointed out that this could possibly be chalcedony instead of the original hyalite that was guessed. I've updated the title to reflect that until I've properly tested it.
Update: 10/26/17 Was not able to scratch it with a 7 mohs hardness pick. That would make it chalcedony. Article updated.
This was an interesting specimen that I got while looking for fluorescent quartz. The seller showed me a poor quality UV photo and claimed that the quartz was responding to the UV light. Unfortunately this is one of those times where I took the risk and it failed. While it was fluorescent, it wasn't the quartz itself that was fluorescing. Instead, there is a secondary formation of chalcedony. I can'tfault it as a daylight specimen though. It has many wonderful quartz crystals that are well formed. As a photographer it provides a very interesting contrast that many would not have experienced while collecting geodes. The background is fluorescent providing a light colored background amongst the darker non-fluorescing quartz.
Locale: Nuevo Corral, Ruby District, Arizona
Weight: 15.9oz | 451g
Dimensions: 3.6 x 2.2 x 3.5 in | 91 x 55 x 90 mm
Fluorapatite
This was one of the first specimens that I got in a trade with Graham Fraser. He had just come back from one of his fairly arduous collecting trips throughout Australia and this was one of the pieces that was leftover. Fairly confident he just traded it as a way to get to know me as the trade we made far favored me. I had just given him a small 1-2" piece of Princess Pat willemite that I had collected when I had first found that pile of it.
Locale: Rothsay Beryl Mine, Western Australia. Collected by Graham Fraser Nov 2014
Weight: 11oz | 311g
Dimensions: 2.9 x 1.4 x 3.2 in | 75 x 36 x 81 mm
