Huge Cubic Purple Fluorite on Sphalerite - Elmwood

This is a large, cabinet sized specimen of cubic, purple fluorite on a mass of metallic grey Sphalerite. There is a 3.2" wide cluster of lustrous, purple fluorite at the top of the piece with the largest, crystal being 1.55" wide. The fluorite is deep purple near the edges and displays nice patterns on the surface. There is some bruising the a few edges on the cubes.

The entire piece is 12.3" wide and weighs about 20 lbs. There is also a barite flower near the bottom of the piece. A great, large display specimen from a old location where collecting is no longer allowed. From the Mark Gottlieb collection.

The Elmwood Mine is a zinc mine in Carthage, Tennessee that opened in 1969. It then closed for many years, only to be reopened in 2010. It has produced many world class specimens of fluorite, calcite, barite, and galena over the years. Specimens used to be plentiful as miners were allowed to recover specimens, but collecting is strictly prohibited by the new mine owners. They've gone to great lengths to prevent the mining of specimens, including blasting crystal pockets or filling them with slurry.

Shalerite ((Zn,Fe)S) is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc while Galena is a primary ore for lead.

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