Barite

specimen number:
9892148

location:
Minerva Mine #1, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA

description:
The top of this thin matrix is covered completely with snow white opaque lustrous crystals of barite measuring to 2.5 cm in size. In great condition. Brightly fluorescent under longwave ultraviolet light.

The Minerva Mine Number 1, located near Cave-in-Rock in Hardin County, Illinois, was a cornerstone of the historic Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district. Discovered in 1940 and sinking its primary shaft in 1942, the mine operated intermittently until its final closure in 1996. Geologically, the deposit sits within Mississippian-age carbonate host rocks, where fluorine-bearing hydrothermal fluids migrated through regional faults and bedding-plane replacement zones to form rich ore bodies. Mineralogically, the mine achieved world-renowned status among collectors for producing spectacular specimens, most notably exceptionally sharp cubic and multi-colored fluorite crystals often associated with sphalerite, calcite, barite, strontianite, and witherite.

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