Sphalerite

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Colorless to slightly pinkish acicular crystals of strontianite on crystallized sphalerite from the Minerva Mine No. 1, Hardin County, Illinois, in great condition. The strontianite forms delicate needle like sprays with attractive translucency and subtle blush tones, nicely contrasted by the darker sphalerite matrix. Strontianite is a strontium carbonate mineral that typically occurs in low temperature hydrothermal veins and is an important ore of strontium, though well crystallized specimens are far less common than massive material. The Minerva Mine No. 1 is part of the famous Illinois Kentucky Fluorspar District, a major Midwestern mining region known for fluorite, sphalerite, galena, and associated minerals. Collectors value this locality for its diverse mineral assemblages and well formed crystals, and fine strontianite specimens from this historic district are especially desirable. Collected in the 1970s.