This is probably my second favorite specimen from the
trip. The surface of the purplish blue fluorite
is a bit altered, such that it has a whitish coating, though the overall form
makes for a beautiful combination. The
large octahedron sits on a plate of muscovite and very lustrous
cassiterite. There were hardly any
fluorite examples available from this location, most were beaten beyond
recognition (except for the color) or present as minute crystals somewhere on a
matrix. This was the best fluorite example I came across, and it is certainly
an interesting combination.
Minerals from this relatively deposit were one of the interesting surprises on this trip. This area is located in Inner Mongolia, near the more prolific Huanggang Mine.