43 new fluorescent minerals to United States Showcase
Today I have added 43 new specimens to the United States Showcase Page of my website. A description of some of the small batches is provided below.
Wollastonite, Albite, Meta-Uranocircite? Rose Road, Pitcairn, New York – Over the years I have obtained several batches of this material. The fluorescent response of both the wollastonite and the albite is considered a medium brightness. However, over the years our ultraviolet lamps have been getting more and more powerful. As a result of that, plus the use now of shortwave UV LED flashlights, this material is becoming more attractive. The very first batch I purchased was in the early 1990s. At that time, the person I purchased the specimens from had told me that he had the green fluorescent mineral identified as meta-uranocircite. I do not know if that ID still stands today, or if more work has been done on the material. If anyone knows more about this ID, please let me know.
Sphalerite in Barite from North Carolina – In the late 1980s/early 1990s I was contacted by a/the guy who had discovered this material. I believe it was from a roadcut or some sort of construction cut. He told me he had at least 500 pounds of specimens and asked if I wanted to purchase it. Although at the time shipping was still not cheap, I decided to purchase the whole lot and had it shipped from North Carolina to Phoenix. I have been selling specimens from this locality ever since. The sphalerite fluoresces a bright orange under longwave ultraviolet light and is scattered in a barite matrix. It can also have sustained luminescence (aka phosphorescence).
Specimens from the Nellie James Mine in Arizona – I have provided today several nice specimens from the Nellie James mine in Arizona. These include a couple of nice fluorescent/phosphorescent sphalerite specimens as well as other multi-colored specimens containing willemite, calcite and hydrozincite. I wrote a paper on the Nellie James mine and it was published in the January/February 2022 issue of Rocks and Minerals magazine. I was asked by the publishers to try to sell back issues of each of the two fluorescent mineral special additions they published (the other was January/February 2021). I have each of these for sale if anyone is interested. Just let me know and I can provide pricing etc.
I am currently working on the photography for a batch of specimens for a Franklin/Sterling Hill Mine Showcase update. As always, those on my email list will be notified the moment these new specimens are uploaded to my site.