Mixed Minerals!

A large fluorite from the Auglaize Quarry in Ohio, there are two main fluorite habits that this location is known for-- the zoned purple cubes, and then these interesting combinations of brown fluorite with a later purple generation. This is the latter habit, and a very good representative of that material, being an older piece contains a big filled with crystals. There are also a couple white calcites that give a pleasant accent!

This is among the most unique rhodochrosite specimens I have seen-- a specimen from Pakistan! And for being unique it is actually quite pretty-- often times "unique" when it comes to minerals is more "odd" than "aesthetic."  This one has a group of crystals sitting on blady cleavlandite, The crystals do seem to be cleaved on the right side but it is not apparent unless you look very, very closely.

A beautiful specimen from an exciting new find in Nigeria-- day fluorescent fluorite. These have been trickling out over the last few months in a variety of habits that interestingly mimic many of the various appearances form the Weardale Area of England.  This one looks a lot like the Rogerly Material, especially with its bright day fluorescence. 

A beautiful specimen from an exciting new find in Nigeria-- day fluorescent fluorite. These have been trickling out over the last few months in a variety of habits that interestingly mimic many of the various appearances form the Weardale Area of England.  This one looks a lot like the Rogerly Material, especially with its bright day fluorescence. 

A large specimen from an exciting new find in Nigeria-- day fluorescent fluorite. These have been trickling out over the last few months in a variety of habits that interestingly mimic many of the various appearances form the Weardale Area of England.  

A nice rhodochrosite with relatively large scalenohedral crystals (compared to most of what I've seen)  for the locality, all with good red color. This one dates to at least the 90's.

A beautiful fluorite from the Auglaize Quarry in Ohio, there are two main fluorite habits that this location is known for-- the zoned purple cubes, and then these interesting combinations of brown fluorite with a later purple generation. This is the latter habit, and a very good representative of that material, being an older piece contains a bug filled with crystals.

A large plate of lighter colored blue-gray fluorite crystals from a recent find in Nigeria.  Nigeria is one of those hidden gems in the mineral word-- it has a number of well known localities and huge potential for specimens, except not much comes out, except for gem rough. This was a surprising recent discovery, and this is a rather good reference from the find. 

A beautiful example of barite crystals on matrix, accompanied by contrasting green malachite. Although some material has been found recently, this is an older piece and the arrangement of the crystals, standing upright on their matrix, is quite aesthetic. The three dimensionality of the piece and lack of color contrast between the crystals makes it a little difficult to photograph and convey the form-- a video can be viewed here:

A great example of this iron tungstate-- this one has multiple sharp back crystals sitting on matrix, including a twin that sids sideways on the top-- you usually don't see the twins on matrix. Some edge chipping, but still a good, sizable example of this material from a find made around 2 years ago. Quite good for the price....

The American Midwest is dotted with quarries that produce everything from road fill to food grade lime and and frac sand. Driving along the interstates in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan you might even recognize the names of various small towns on the highway signs from your mineral labels. As most of these quarries are seeking calcium bearing materials of one sort or another, it goes without saying that a lot of these locations als have calcite, celestite, and (to a lesser extent) fluorite. While there are a few particular locations that have become particularly famous for their fluorites, Michigan has been largely left out. There is a lot of calcite and celestite in Michigan, but for whatever reason, almost no fluorite. This is a very rare sample from the Holloway quarry-- it probably looks indistinguishable from many of the other brown fluorites that occur across the midwest, but it was obtained from the guy who collected it, so it is not mislabeled. This location produces a lot of calcite and those distinct, included, bar-like celestites, but fluorite is very, very rare from here.

An old example of fluorite from the May Stone Quarry, outside of Ft. Wayne.  These are among the most distinctive of midwestern fluorites, typically displaying very transparent light yellow crystals.  This one has several crystals on matrix, positioned on both the front and the back. The crystals on this one also have an interesting feature--they have very small brown cores, I had not seen this on other pieces previously. 

An interesting rock from Ohio, the quarries around Lime City produce quite a bit of calcite and a fair amount of celestite, but fluorite is a bit more scarce. The fluorites on this one are not perfect-- both the largest crystal and the cluster have damage, yet what makes this particularly unusual (apart from just being a large Lime City fluorite) is the matrix-- on both he front and back you can see a coral fossil frozen below the fluorites. I am neither a geologist nor do I have any paleontology knowledge, but it's a little odd in that I always think of (most) rocks as being "old"... but in this case the fossil was actually older than the fluorite. I guess that's obvious to some of you, but I guess for me with my lack of background, it's an interesting to see the chronology so obviously displayed.  

A nice example of pyrite with quartz from Huanzala. Despite Huanzala producing more pyrite than any other locality on earth, these quartz/ pyrite combinations have never been especially common. Last year they seem to have encountered a zone with more of them however, so I have seen a bit more on the market recently than at any time in the past, over many trips to that country. This one is imperfect, but still quite a beautiful example of this combinatio, with a bright, striated pyrite crystal backed by a cluster of white quartz crystals. 

A pretty example of very etched translucent spessartine from the famous find made around 2003.

A very nice example of yellow rhodizite-londonite on matrix, from Antsongambato  in central Madagascar. This rare borate is known from a few localities world wide (interestingly the type locality is in Russia), but the only place you will ever actually see a well-crystalized specimen from is Madagascar.

A large fluorite specimen from one of the lesser known Ohio fluorite localities--the Bluffton Stone Co. Quarry. This quarry operated since at least 1910, though these were discovered by a field collector in 1996-- I have no idea if the quarry is still operational.

A large fluorite specimen from one of the lesser known Ohio fluorite localities--the Bluffton Stone Co. Quarry. This quarry operated since at least 1910, though these were discovered by a field collector in 1996-- I have no idea if the quarry is still operational.

A good example of this zinc silicate from a classic US locality, best known for it's fluorescent minerals. 

While I usually prefer not to post items without localities or even specific species names (though if I'd have to guess I'd say this is a spessartine) I do think that the shape of this golf ball-like garnet is particularly satisfying. If this were a dodecahedron I wouldn't bother, but it's a nearly perfect 24-sided trapezohedron, it makes it a little more fun to look at.  The pictures all look the same but you can kind of judge the orientation based on the position of the painted on label. 

If you like Peruvian minerals, you will might note that this is something of an oddity. Galena to begin with, despite the abundance of sulfides from Peru, has never exactly been common except for a short period when Palomo was producing (when this one was found) and then the odd pocket from Huanzala.  And for the country, these are rather large spinel twins. 

A nice example of light yellow apatite on pyrite, from a find made last year at the Huanzala Mine. Apatite has always been something of a rarity from Huanzala (and Peru in general) though this pocket was the most Peruvian apatite I have seen in any one place at one time. 

This is not a showy rock, though if you like Michigan minerals, it is quit special-- datolite CRYSTALS. Datolites from the Upper Peninsula are not uncommon, but almost all of them occur as nodules of varying color and patterns from various localities, all with different levels of desirability. Crystals however, are much less common. This is a cabinet specimen from an old collection, the vuggy display face is covered with small pinkish crystals. 

A great  ludlamite specimen from Brazil. I consider these Brazilian pieces to be the second best in the world, after the Bolivian ones from Huanuni.  The Bolivian crystals can reach much larger sizes (but only rarely, the average is around 1 cm), though there is also never quite as much on one single piece. 

A great  ludlamite specimen from Brazil. I consider these Brazilian pieces to be the second best in the world, after the Bolivian ones from Huanuni.  The Bolivian crystals can reach much larger sizes (but only rarely, the average is around 1 cm), though there is also never quite as much on one single piece. 

A great  ludlamite specimen from Brazil. I consider these Brazilian pieces to be the second best in the world, after the Bolivian ones from Huanuni.  The Bolivian crystals can reach much larger sizes (but only rarely, the average is around 1 cm), though there is also never quite as much on one single piece. 

A great  ludlamite specimen from Brazil. I consider these Brazilian pieces to be the second best in the world, after the Bolivian ones from Huanuni.  The Bolivian crystals can reach much larger sizes (but only rarely, the average is around 1 cm), though there is also never quite as much on one single piece. 

A great  ludlamite specimen from Brazil. I consider these Brazilian pieces to be the second best in the world, after the Bolivian ones from Huanuni.  The Bolivian crystals can reach much larger sizes (but only rarely, the average is around 1 cm), though there is also never quite as much on one single piece. 

A great  ludlamite specimen from Brazil. I consider these Brazilian pieces to be the second best in the world, after the Bolivian ones from Huanuni.  The Bolivian crystals can reach much larger sizes (but only rarely, the average is around 1 cm), though there is also never quite as much on one single piece. 

A spectacular and very large fluorite from the Auglaize quarry. This is an older piece, hosting numerous purple and brown crystals. Some of the brown crystals have a thin overgrowth of purple, which gives a slight iridescence.  Pieces of this size are seldom seen!