47 new fluorescent minerals to United States Showcase
Today I have added 47 new specimens to the United States Showcase Page of my website. A description of six of the small batches is provided below.
Willemite, Calcite, Fluorite from the Purple Passion Mine, Arizona – Over the years a lot of specimens have been mined from the Purple Passion mine in Arizona. As with most mines, the specimens tend to fall into three categories. I call them A-grade, B-grade and C-grade, with A-grade being the highest quality etc. I tend to try to collect and sell only A-grade specimens. It takes someone who has many years’ experience dealing with specimens from this mine to be able to ascertain the quality category for any one specimen.
Barite and calcite, Elk Creek, South Dakota – Known as a classic mineral locality, Collector’s Edge Minerals has been mining this area for years. Specimens produced contain some of the finest amber colored barite crystals on a matrix of golden yellow calcite crystals. Both minerals fluoresce. High end crystal specimens can fetch top dollar. The ones I sell are more for the fluorescent mineral collector, not for the high-end white light specimen collector.
Opal, Manhattan Mine, Napa, California – Many years ago I purchased a large quantity of this opal from an elderly man in California. I would have to go back deep into my records to remember his name, but unfortunately, he passed away shortly after my purchase. This opal is yellow in white light (very unusual and rare) and will fluoresce a bright yellow under all three wavelengths. Specimens that are gemmy yellow are more valuable than others. Some specimens contain a green fluorescent opal as well. I believe at this point I still have more of this material for sale than any other dealer.
Calcite, Fluorite, Pure Potential Mine, Arizona – I mined this material in the early 2000s from a locality underground that was producing the very best fluorescing specimens at the time. Debbie and I spent an entire day hauling specimens to the surface (photographs in the photograph section of my website). It is important to note that this material is freshly mined and not weathered material that some dealers sell from the dumps. It is best under midrange ultraviolet light as the calcite is brighter red and the fluorite gets somewhat muted. Some specimens contain many aesthetic veins and can be some of the best midrange specimens available today. This mine is also known as the North Geronimo mine, but was the Pure Potential mine when I mined there.
Scapolite, Valyermo, California – When I purchased a large portion of the sales stock of the late great Tom Warren at UVP, Inc., included in that purchase was a large supply of this scapolite. I think I have been the only dealer with this material for sale since. I am not sure if analysis has been done to determine which species in the scapolite group this is, but it has been labeled just scapolite for many many years. Fairly recently a good friend of mine finally, after much research, found the locality. He has told me that this scapolite is currently on private property in a guarded gated residential community and that the locals are very touchy about unauthorized visitors. So, at this point I think it’s safe to say that the stock I have for sale could very well be all that will be available.
Hydrozincite, Fredrickson Mine, Nevada – In this batch I have included several nice hydrozincite specimens from the Fredrickson mine in Nevada. Most hydrozincite specimens you see are from the Yellow Pine mine which I collected at in 2018. These specimens from the Fredrickson mine contain some nice fine hydrozincite crystals and were collected down in the mine about 20 years ago.
With the summer coming to an end I have not had a chance yet to figure out what minerals to pull from my stock for the next Showcase. As always, those on my email list will be notified the moment these new specimens are uploaded to my site.