Fluorite

Unknown Owner

An outstanding miniature of beautiful blue glassy gemmy cubic fluorite crystals set up on matrix. In great condition. What at first might appear as damage on one crystal edge is natural. There are light purple color zoning present. Collected in the mid 1980s. The Annabel Lee Mine in Hardin County, Illinois was one of the fluorspar mines in the Illinois Kentucky Fluorspar District near Cave in Rock. Mining in the district developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to extract fluorite from vein deposits hosted in limestone. The mine produced fluorite along with associated minerals such as calcite, galena, and sphalerite. Like many mines in the region, it contributed to the districts role as a major supplier of fluorspar used in steel and chemical industries.