IML1 (Pink!) Fluorite

Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
16.5x 13.2x 11.1 cm

$6500

A large cabinet specimen of pink fluorite on matrix, from Inner Mongolia.  When this arrived, the fluorite crystals were completely covered by a layer of hedenbergite, through careful cleaning the crystals were exposed.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful and exciting things to come from Huanggang yet—pink fluorite!  This combination of habit and color is perhaps the most sought after of the species, and has previously only come from the alps and intermittently from Pakistan.  They are certainly unique for China, a country known mainly for large plates and masses of the mineral, almost always in blues, greens or purples.  In contrast, to those fluorites these have a much more refined and delicate appearance.

Like virtually all pink fluorites from this location, this piece has been oiled, and there is a bit of edge wear.  I only saw a couple other pieces of this magnitude in Tucson  and all had the same issues, though at the same time they were more expensive and I did not see any matrix specimens with multiple crystals like this.  It could probably use further cleaning and trimming, but I am leaving it like this.