Bairendaba! (Yindu)
I am posting another update from China, this one dedicated to the minerals of the Bairendaba Deposit, generally referred to as the “Yindu Mine,” as the workings are controlled by the Yindu Mining Company. The Mineralogical Record recently published an article on this site, and while it provides excellent background information, I do feel that the images just scratched the surface of what this area has produced— most of the pictured specimens seem to have come from a 1-2 year period before they started hitting the really wacky stuff.
I first noticed specimens from Yindu around 2013—a dealer in Tucson who had been focusing on the nearby Huanggang mine happened to have one flat of blue/purple crystals on siderite matrixes, though unfortunately the surfaces were somewhat frosted, and the quality was not very high. Then around 2018 I started to see the now-familiar blues with the purple phantoms, followed by what someone decided to market as the “ghost eye” material (dark purple, with white zones near the centers, reminiscent of the “alien eye” material from Erongo), and the pyrhottite— this is what was mainly shown int he Mineralogical Record article. It was during the pandemic however, that the really weird (and I think most beautiful) material started to come out— bright colors, and combinations that I had never seen before.
With that said, I think this has become my favorite fluorite locality. It may sound like sacrilege to some, but the only other location that I can compare it to in terms of variation and color would be the southern Illinois Fluourspar District. While the specimens from the Yindu area rarely reach the same sizes (the average size for “good” crystals is usually under 2 cm) the variation of colors, habits, and the crazy internal features caused by successive generations of growth makes them more varied (and in my opinion much more interesting) than the vast majority of examples from other places. While they definitely have a certain “look” to them that makes them attributable to this deposit, I find that this locality seems to suffer less from the general uniformity that localities tend to produce— for example 98% of Yaogangxian will be blue or purple, material from the Spanish localities will almost always be Blue or Yellow, and so on. Unfortunately, the way they blast here seems to cause lots of damage— so finding perfectly clean ones is hard, particularly in the larger sizes. As such, miniatures and thumbnails are more easy to find. The other issue that many seem to have is that they will require backlighting— much like Okorusu or Erongo, (and I guess analogous to the Malagasy liddicoatite) the successive generations of growth tend to produce layering that makes it difficult for light (and therefor the individual colors) to come through— the second half of the update has this type. Where backlighting is not necessary, the prices will be higher— and that has definitely been the case here in China a well.
I’ve tried to get as many different styles as I could, though I’m sure there are plenty that I have missed. Having been stuck in the USA when the stuff started coming out, I’ve felt like I’ve been playing “catch up” trying to find examples of various habits.
For those of you still reading, I’d also like to include a note about pocket names: note that there are none, despite many producing specimens of quite distinct appearance. It used to be the case that only exceptional discoveries were worthy of earning pocket names, though it seems that current marketing trends have made this common practice, in order to increase the marketability of specimens from locations that produce successive pockets of similar material. This has especially been the case with fluorite. I would like to point out that almost every crystal technically comes out of a pocket— while it can be argued that these names add to provenance and assist in dating finds, i would encourage collectors to differentiate when there is a significance to the pocket, and when it is just a marketing ploy.
As with the last two updates, shipping to the USA is a flat $16, and is combinable with items from the last two updates. Other countries please inquire.
List
Grid
CYND01 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.3x 2.7x 2.4 cm
$980
A vivid green fluorite with clear phantoms, from a pocket discovered several months ago at the Yindu Mine. Green is one of the rarer colors here, but some of them are incredibly vivid-- they might have a similar appearance to the crystals from Huangshaping or Xianghualing, though it's as if there were a real-life Photoshop and someone turned the contrast and saturation way up. missing a bit on the back, but displays perfectly from the front.
CYND02 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.5x 1.3x 1.25 cm
$1600
Another strange fluorite from the Yindu Mine, this one is an elongated crystal with very strange inclusions. There is a small galena crystal clinging to the side.
CYND03 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.2x 2.1x 2.7 cm
$1200
A spectacular example from what is probably my favorite pocket that I have encountered so far. This one is has very sharp, clear cubes with a perfect purple octahedral phantom. To call this a phantom however is a little misleading-- that implies a degree of wispiness. This is more of a solid purple crystal that got frozen in lighter blue fluorite. The later, light-blue generation is exceptionally clear, so much so that you can see the beveled edges on the original octahedron. What's more, this one does not need backlighting to be appreciated-- I did get a couple larger plates with the same sort of phantoms, but special lighting is required (at least until I can get them prepped).
RESERVED
CYND03A Fluorite on Quartz
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.3x 5.1x 3.8 cm
A nice example of blue fluorite on white quartz, I particularly like the color contrast on this one, The blue fluorite with its purple phantoms stands out nicely against the white quartz. I'm not sure when exactly the was found, but this stye of blue with purple was among the first habits to start coming out.
CYND04 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
8.4x 4.0x 2.6 cm
$425
Yet another wacky Yindu fluorite-- the pictures may look a bit messy, but a closer look and an explanation might convey why I like this. To start, it is a mix of pink octahedrons and purple cubes-- pink fluorite has been seen quite a bit from Huanggang, but it is almost non-existent at Yindu. The more interesting this however, is that there are overgrowths of cubic purple fluorite-- in a. couple places you can see where the purple is starting to fully enclose the pink octahedrons-- had this process continued they might have become "phantoms," but alas they were interrupted. Whatever the case, it's just a really weird and very cool fluorite, and a prime example of why I like this mine so much.
CYND05 Fluorite on Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.9x 4.6x 2.6 cm
$355
Yet another wacky Yindu fluorite-- the pictures may look a bit messy, but a closer look and an explanation might convey why I like this. To start, it is a mix of pink octahedrons and purple cubes-- pink fluorite has been seen quite a bit from Huanggang, but it is almost non-existent at Yindu. The more interesting thing however, is that there are overgrowths of cubic purple fluorite-- in a. couple places you can see where the purple is attempting to enclose the pink octahedrons-- had this process continued they might have become "phantoms," but alas they were interrupted. Whatever the case, it's just a really weird and very cool fluorite, and a prime example of why I like this mine so much.
CYND06 Fluorite on Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.1x 3.6x 2.3 cm
$265
Yet another wacky Yindu fluorite-- the pictures may look a bit messy, but a closer look and an explanation might convey why I like this. To start, it is a mix of pink octahedrons and purple-blue cubes-- pink fluorite has been seen quite a bit from Huanggang, but it is almost non-existent at Yindu. The more interesting this however, is that there are overgrowths of cubic purple-blue fluorite-- had this process continued they might have become "phantoms," but alas they were interrupted. Whatever the case, it's just a really weird and very cool fluorite, and a prime example of why I like this mine so much.
CYND07 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.2x 2.6x 1.7 cm
$465
A vividly colored fluorite crystal on matrix, from the Yindu Mine. Green is one of the rarer colors from this mine, but some of them have particularly good color-- they resemble the Xianghualing or Huangshaping material, only they seem as if someone has used a real-life photoshop to crank their saturation way up! If the main crystal seems a bit out of focus, it is because it is so transparent that you can see clear through to the matrix behind it.
CYND08 Fluorite with Pyrite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.3x 3.9x 2.2 cm
$465
A beautiful example of pyrite with fluorite-- this was my favorite piece form the pocket, because the pyrite dusting is concentrated on the corners. The fluorite itself is a deep inky blue, though it requires a bit of extra lighting to fully appreciate the color. Regardless, it's still a very beautiful piece-- the pyrite is what makes this pocket special.
CYND09 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
6.5x 4.6x 1.5 cm
$345
A fluorite with a very unique color-- this one is light purple, with the central crystals also having this aqua-blue hue in the later growth stages. The resulting color, particularly with the correct lighting, is quite beautiful and I also think quite unique. There is a bit of a brightness here that I am not accustomed to seeing in other fluorites-- you might see blue or purple Yaogangxian fluorites, but they generally lack this special luminosity.
CYND10 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.2x 3.5x 1.8 cm
$395
A beautiful matrix specimen of green fluorite with a purple core, on a muscovite matrix. Like quite a few pieces in this update, I selected this one for its rather unique color-- most of the other Chinese fluorite localities just do not have this level of transparency combined with color saturation. In fact, the muscovite matrix makes this look a bit like Yaogangxian, except you would almost never see this color from there.
CYND11 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.4x 4.1x 2.5 cm
$395
Another interesting fluorite from Yindu. While most seem to have successive generations of growth that result in phantoming, this one kind of just just "f*** it, I'm changing course" halfway through. The end result is a cubic crystal that basically looks like two different crystals stuck together-- the bottom is dark, and the top is water clear, in fact you can see straight through to the muscovite matrix beneath that top half. Actually, if you look closely at the bottom it also has one of those sharp octahedral phantoms, but even this seems to have been abruptly truncated, as it gave way to that later, clear growth. Interestingly, there is a slight cleavage plane between the two growths that prevents light from passing between the two main sections, making it look even stranger. But the crystals are very sharp, so all this is bundled in a rather clean package. This is probably one of the weirdest descriptions I have ever written, but the rock certainly merits it.
CYND12 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.7x 3.7x 2.0 cm
$425
Another beautiful Yindu fluorite, this one is reminiscent of the earlier blue finds, but the color is a considerably more saturated inky blue, and it has greenish zones near some of the lower edges. Interestingly, it still has the same distinctive phantom pattern as the earlier discoveries, even though the color is different.
CYND13 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.1x 2.5x1.7 cm
$395
A beautiful fluorite with very good zoning, the back is not a contact. The 3.1 dimension is a diagonal and includes the bit of quartz, the maximum edge dimension is about 2.15 cm. The pictures speak for themselves, so this description is mainly to clarify dimensions.
CYND14 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.9x 2.5x 1.6 cm
$395
This is a half of a cubic crystal with very intricate zoning, there are at least two separate rectangular phantoms in there, each with their own complexities and there are additional phantoms surrounding them. This as admittedly half a crystal, but with this level of complexity that is probably a good thing, as this allows more light to pass through.
Given dimensions are edges, the diagonal is 3.6 cm.
CYND15 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.2x 1.7x 1.5 cm
$225
A beautiful thumbnail of very transparent fluorite from Yindu. You can see clearly to the muscovite on the bottom. This one has a deep purple core, surrounded by light green.
CYND16 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
1.9x 1.4x 1.1 cm
$275
A beautiful thumbnail of very transparent fluorite from Yindu. This one has especially good color-- displaying that vivid green that is only seldomly encountered at this mine, with a purple core surrounded by an inky blue phantom. Small, but very good.
CYND17 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
1.9x 1.5x 1.4 cm
$200
Another beautiful thumbnail of Yindu fluorite, this one has a purple octahedron froze in a very clear, pale blue-green cube. Minor edge chipping.
This is another piece that exemplifies why I like Yindu so much-- how many other fluorite locations produce specimens like this?
CYND18 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.3x 0.95x 1.6 cm
$140
Another odd Yindu fluorite, this one is an elongated spinel twin... bit it gets weirder. There also seems to be a second spinel tin jutting out from the bottom at a 90 degree angle--it looks a bit like twinned spinel twins, though I cannot make this claim with certainty.
CYND19 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
1.6x 1.3x 1.0 cm
$145
A beautiful fluorite thumbnail with a deep purple core and a light green outer area. There is also a faint green cubic phantom near the outer edge.
CYND20 Fluorite with Pyrrhotite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.8x 1.9x 0.8 cm
$155
A nice thumbnail specimen from Yindu, this is the type of material produced around 2018-2020, and has an associated pyrrhotite book. This is sheared on the back, though I think that is actually what makes this piece presentable-- a lot of these require strong backlighting, but this one being thinner allows more light to pass through, so you can clearly see the "windows" and zoning without the need for any additional light.
CYND21 Fluorite with Pyrite on Quartz
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.1x 1.9x 1.6 cm
$175
A beautiful light purple fluorite octahedron with a dusting of pyrite, on a pillar of quartz crystals. The fluorite is complete all around, and the octahedral shape is a little unusual for Yindu. I would have guessed this was from Huanggang, but the seller assured me it was form Yindu-- and this was substantiated but he bit of muscovite on the matrix.
CYND22 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.0x 2.2x 1.7 cm
$145
A green fluorite crystal with purple phantoms and a frosty surfaces, from the Yindu Mine.
CYND23 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.0x 2.0x 2.1 cm
$325
A cluster of fluorite crystals showing the internal complexity that makes me like Yindu so much. This one is a group of green cubic crystals with stepped cubo-octahedral purple phantoms at their cores. When backlit, these cores reveal colorless windows at their centers-- you might say the the phantoms have their own phantoms, and a complexity of their own. Slight edge wear.
CYND24 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
1.9x 1.5x 1.6 cm
$160
A beautiful green cubic fluorite crystal, with a purple cubo-octaheral phantom/core that has zoning of its own-- the core is particularly interesting new the cubic modifications at the tips of the octahedron-- there is almost an open cross pattern visible.
CYND25 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.7x 2.3x 1.2 cm
$145
A group of sharp green cubes with dark cores, on matrix form the Yindu Mine. Not Perfect, but a good example nonetheless.
CYND26 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.3x 2.1x 1.5 cm
$135
A beautiful cluster of purple fluorite crystals with colorless cores-- with a little extra lighting these appear as colorless "windows" at the centers of the crystals. Complete on the back.
CYND27 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.6x 2.2x 1.4 cm
$145
A beautiful cluster of purple fluorite crystals with colorless cores-- with a little extra lighting these appear as colorless "windows" at the centers of the crystals. Complete on the back.
CYND28 Fluorite with Pyrite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.7x 4.8x 1.8 cm
$365
A nice example of inky grayish blue fluorite, with purple cores and a pyrite dusting. I think the pyrite is what makes these stand out-- the numerous tiny crystals look like glitter and contrast nicely with the dark fluorite. With backlighting, these are particularly nice.
CYND28A Fluorite with Pyrite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.8x 3.4x 2.8 cm
$400
A nice example of inky blue fluorite, with purple cores and a pyrite dusting concentrated on the corners of the fluorite crystals. I think the pyrite is what makes these stand out-- the numerous tiny crystals look like glitter and contrast nicely with the dark fluorite. With backlighting, these are particularly nice, though it's hard to capture the colors correctly.
CYND29 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.5x 3.5x 2.2 cm
$145
A fluorite specimen from a very strange pocket. As far as I can tell, these started off colorless, then ere overgrown by purple fluorite, and finally a vivid teal. The multiple layers means that these generally need backlighting to be appreciated, with out this they will be somewhat dark. Depending on the angle that you place the light, either the purple, the teal, or the original cores will present themselves. These are not perfect, but again, interesting pieces from a very odd pocket. Please note that the pictures are taken in a light box with the specimens a couple centimeters above the white background, allowing light to pass through. In other pictures, they are backlit. You will also need strong lighting (if not outright backlighting) to appreciate them
CYND30 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.3 3.7x 3.2 cm
$185
A fluorite specimen from a very strange pocket. As far as I can tell, these started off colorless, then were overgrown by purple fluorite, and finally a vivid teal. In some places, fluorite has also overgrown muscovite or drusy quartz, adding to the strange appearance of these pieces. The multiple layers means that these generally need backlighting to be appreciated, with out this they will be somewhat dark. Depending on the angle that you place the light, either the purple, the teal, or the original cores will present themselves. These are not perfect, but again, interesting pieces from a very odd pocket. Please note that the pictures are taken in a light box with the specimens a couple centimeters above the white background, allowing light to pass through. In other pictures, they are backlit. You will also need strong lighting (if not outright backlighting) to appreciate them, if not you will just be looking at a dark fluorite.
CYND31 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.1x 3.6x 2.0 cm
$185
A fluorite specimen from a very strange pocket. As far as I can tell, these started off colorless, then were overgrown by purple fluorite, and finally a green/ teal. The multiple layers means that these generally need backlighting to be appreciated, with out this they will be somewhat dark. Depending on the angle that you place the light, either the purple, the teal, or the original cores will present themselves. These are not perfect, but again, interesting pieces from a very odd pocket. Please note that the pictures are taken in a light box with the specimens a couple centimeters above the white background, allowing light to pass through. In other pictures, they are backlit. You will also need strong lighting (if not outright backlighting) to appreciate them, otherwise they are just dark (not pictured, but the side images give some sense). This one does have damage, but, the point of this one is just the crazy zoning when you backlight it.
CYND32 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.3x 2.9x 2.4 cm
$140
A fluorite specimen from a very strange pocket. As far as I can tell, these started off colorless, then were overgrown by purple fluorite, and finally a green/ teal. In some places, the fluorite has also overgrown dustings of quartz or muscovite, adding to their inner complexity. The multiple layers means that these generally need backlighting to be appreciated, with out this they will be somewhat dark. Depending on the angle that you place the light, either the purple, the teal, or the original cores will present themselves. These are not perfect, but again, interesting pieces from a very odd pocket. Please note that the pictures are taken in a light box with the specimens a couple centimeters above the white background, allowing light to pass through. In other pictures, they are backlit. You will also need strong lighting (if not outright backlighting) to appreciate them.
CYND33 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.8x 3.3x 2.8 cm
$158
A fluorite specimen from a very strange pocket. As far as I can tell, these started off colorless, then were overgrown by purple fluorite, and finally a bit of green/ teal. In some places, the fluorite has also overgrown dustings of quartz or muscovite, adding to their inner complexity. The multiple layers means that these generally need backlighting to be appreciated, with out this they will be somewhat dark. Depending on the angle that you place the light, the different colors will present themselves. These are not perfect, but again, interesting pieces from a very odd pocket. Please note that the pictures are taken in a light box with the specimens a couple centimeters above the white background, allowing light to pass through. In other pictures, they are backlit. You will also need strong lighting (if not outright backlighting) to appreciate them.
CYND34 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.4x 3.5x 2.3 cm
$120
A nice example of a Yindu fluorite, with wispy purple coloration. Needs backlighting to be fully appreciated, though because the back is a contact (rather than an opaque matrix) it does not need all that much. To my mind, this variety is somewhat reminiscent of Okorusu.
CYND35 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
7.1x 3.6x 2.4cm
$145
A cluster of purple fluorite crystals from the Yindu Mine.
CYND36 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.4x3.7x 2.1 cm
$90
A group of small but very transparent and glassy purple fluorite crystals on matrix. There are may tiny round inclusions near where the fluorite crystals contact the matrix that give this an interesting appearance.
CYND37 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.8x 3.0x 1.8 cm
$150
A little (0.7 cm on edge) fluorite crystal on matrix. This could probably be trimmed into a thumbnail, but I will leave it as is. This is my favorite pocket that I have encountered so far-- these have very sharp purple octahedrons frozen inside clear light blue cubes. The cores do not have the usual wispiness that you would expect from phantoms-- they retain their octahedral shape very clearly, so much so that you can clearly see the beveled modifications on the edges, and the flat points. Small crystal, but very cool-- also this one doesn't really need any backlighting to appreciate
CYND38 Quartz, Fluorite with Arsenopyrite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.7x 4.4x 4.0 cm
$145
A nice example of frosty blue-purple fluorites on matrix with arsenopyrite and quartz.
CYND39 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
8.1x 5.8x 2.2 cm
$175
A nice example of lustrous, deep purple fluorite crystals on matrix. There is an elongated crystal near the bottom. There is some damage.
CYND40 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.2x 2.4x 2.0 cm
$90
A nice example of purple and blue fluorite, with an etched surface. The main crystal is a little oddly elongated-- this tends to happen more at Yindu, I'm not used to seeing elongated crystals (that are not spinel twins) from many other places.
CYND41 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.9x 4.8x 2.8 cm
$135
A cluster of dark fluorite crystals, it looks almost black. With backlighting however, you can see a colorless "window".
CYND42 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.5x 2.7x 1.9 cm
$75
Another dark fluorite crystal. It's nearly black without light (the pictures show it under strong lighting), but when backlit this one shows a very clear "window"
CYND43 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.2x 2.7x 1.2 cm
$88
A dark fluorite, though quite beautiful when backlit.
CYND44 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.9x 3.0x 1.9 cm
$100
A nice cluster of fluorite crystals, contacted on the back. Because of this, it is a bit thinner and you can appreciate the purple, white and green zoning without the need for excessive lighting. Very reminiscent of Okorusu. This looks like a mess in the pictures because there is more light passing through the crystals (in order to show the color) than light reflecting off the surfaces (which would highlight the crystal form), but the crystals are fairly distinct in person.
CYND45 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.3x 3.0x 3.5 cm
$95
A couple very beautiful blue and purple fluorite crystals on matrix, from Yindu. The main crystal is not in as rough shape as it looks-- it's actually quite sharp, it's just that light reflects of of tiny internal fractures and voids where it contacts the underlying muscovite.
CYND46 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.1x 3.1x 2.7 cm
$335
Several very transparent, light green fluorite crystals on matrix with very sharp octahedral phantoms within. The phantoms are so sharp, you can even make out the beveled edges of the purple crystals that got encased in a later generation of fluorite. Minor chipping present.
CYND47 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.0x 3.1x 3.2 cm
$138
A cluster of fluorite crystals with interesting lighter purple (whitish when backlit) phantoms, on matrix. Some contacting on the back.
CYND48 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
5.0x 2.9x 2.8 cm
$95
A very transparent light blue-green fluorite crystal on matrix. You can see clear through to the matrix below the crystal, including a very tiny pyrrhotite crystal that got enveloped in the fluorite.
CYND49 Fluorite incl. Boulangrite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.1x 2.4x 2.4 cm
$145
A nice example of green fluorite included with metallic boulangerite needles. When you backlight it a bit you can see the green color that the needles obscure. The photos are taken under strong lighting, what you will see is somewhat darker. There is some damage.
CYND50 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
2.4x 2.3x 1.1 cm
$145
A very beautiful fluorite thumbnail, very clear with blue and green wisps, and linear zoning near one edge. Contacted not he back, missing a corner-- but it's still really beautiful, and I'd say rather unique as far as fluorites I've seen from here or anywhere else.
CYND51 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
3.3x 2.6x 1.7 cm
$135
A nice fluorite specimen costing a group of flattened crystals, all with colorless windows at their centers The matrix on the back is thin and translucent enough that you can see the zoning without much backlighting, of course the effect is much stronger (and more beautiful) with backlighting. Chip on the left side of the cluster.
