Fluorite with Pyrite and Calcite - image 1

Fluorite with Pyrite and Calcite

Unknown Owner

They say that "a Leopard can't change it's spots" but then neither can Fluorite, but why would it want to when it looks so distinctive and pretty? This superb miniature specimen from Elmwood mine can't really be termed a 'classic' as it is so unusual. It is, though, a really special piece: a small off-matrix cluster of intergrown pale purple cubic crystals of Fluorite, but with a twist. Across the surfaces of the well-formed and damage-free crystal surfaces of the Fluorite are small golden spots surrounded by rims of black. Labelled as Pyrite, my suspicion is that the golden inclusions are Chalcopyrite, not Pyrite, and that the black shadows are oxidation to Goethite. A single, small individual crystal of white Calcite is also present on the surface of the Fluorite. Ex Arvid Pasto Collection, this is a really unusual find for Elmwood mine.