BLUE FLUORITE CLUSTER from CAVE-IN-ROCK, IL for Sale

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BLUE FLUORITE CLUSTER from CAVE-IN-ROCK, IL For Sale

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BLUE FLUORITE CLUSTER from CAVE-IN-ROCK, IL:
$225.00

#4030

This beautifulspecimen came from one of the mines (Denton Mine) located in Cave-in-Rock,Illinois. Mining has taken place there since the Civil War when they weremining primarily for galena. Galena was smelted down for its lead andmade into musket balls. Since that time, many mines were opened andclosed, all producing specimens of fluorite, barite, calcite, and combinationsof all. Today, there is no mining being done in the Cave-in-Rock area, sothe source of beautiful specimens has ended.

The specimenpictured is very translucent, with light blue cubes over a purple center(phantom). The specimen, which is made up of 3 larger crystals about 7/8 inches square (22mm) with 3 smaller cubes in between. The specimen is a floater, which means it has no attachment on the bottom of the specimen. You will see some light tiny crystals of sphalerite on the bottom. This specimen was very difficult to photograph, and I had to fool around with my phone to try to make the colors look the same as the specimen. The first 2 photos are fairly close to the actual color, but the actual color is a little darker (it has sky blue color). The specimen has a couple of tiny nicks, but overall it is a very nice specimen. Blue is a very rare color for fluorite from this area. Ninety-nine percent of the specimens from this area are shades of purple.

The specimenmeasures 2 inches long (50mm), 1 7/8 inches wide, and 7/8 inches thick. It weighs 2.15 ounces (62g).

NOTE: Photographs 4 and 5 are backlit with a light under the specimen. My iPhone SE wants to see the purple inside the specimen, but the specimen is definitely all blue.