Name: Fluorite and Chalcopyrite with Baryte
Brand: Crystal Classics
Price: 6000 USD
Availability: InStock

Fluorite and Chalcopyrite with Baryte - image 1

Fluorite and Chalcopyrite with Baryte - image 2

Updated 4d ago

Fluorite and Chalcopyrite with Baryte

This remarkable specimen is what one might term a 'killer'. Specifically from Bethel Level at Minerva No. 1 mine in Hardin Co., Illinois, it is dripping in class. Firstly, it was figured in Arvid Pasto's 2009 book on Fluorite - Collector's Guide to Fluorite - but as you will see if you study that photograph (fig. 66, pg. 47) the specimen has since been professionally trimmed to enhance its undoubtedly stunning features. The Fluorite crystals are cubes which reach a staggering 6 cm on edge, but we know that size is not everything. The Fluorite here is some of the glassiest you will every come across, almost mirror bright and with a smooth glassy feel to the surface. The internal transparency is excellent allowing the detail of Chalcopyrite inclusions and Baryte spheres to be seen deep within. The main Fluorite crystals are dominantly amber coloured but they are epitaxially overgrown by equally glassy blue and purple zoned cuboid Fluorite crystals. The most prominent of these overgrowths are at the corners of the larger Fluorite cubes, but some are also in the central parts of the faces and are tessellated, providing a fascinating study of crystallography. Edge-on, these epitaxial Fluorite crystals display exceptional colour zoning from pale purple to deep purple and soft blue. Cream coloured porous nodular Baryte infills the spaces between the Fluorite crystals and in some places is grown into the Fluorite, or vice-versa. Minor dark brown Sphalerite forms a core at the centre of the specimen. The Chalcopyrite crystal inclusions within the Fluorite are concentrated within the outer zone of the larger Fluorite cubes but rarely break through the surface of the Fluorite. The Fluorite crystal edges are extremely sharp and show very little in the way of damage. The crystal edges around the edge of the specimen show some damage but the main display surface is wonderful, with just two corners showing slight contact damage. This really is an amazing specimen of the highest quality from a fabulous mineral producing region in the United States.

$6,000.00