Celestine

specimen number:
2102392

location:
Stoneco Portage Quarry, Portage, Wood Co., Ohio, USA

description:

A grouping of glassy gemmy blue sharply terminated Celestine crystals. Classic for this locality, this one is in super condition all around and in very fine.

The Stoneco Portage quarry, located near Portage in Wood County, Ohio, is a large-scale commercial open-pit operation celebrated for its high-grade industrial stone and classic Mississippi Valley-Type (MVT) mineral specimens. Geologically, the quarry is excavated into the Silurian-aged Lockport Dolomite, a thick sequence of marine carbonate rocks deposited in a shallow, warm epicontinental sea. Following lithification, magnesium-rich groundwater altered the original limestone into a highly porous dolomite, while subsequent low-temperature hydrothermal fluids circulated through structural fractures and solution vugs to precipitate beautiful crystals of fluorite, celestine, sphalerite, galena, and calcite. Commercial quarrying at the site began in the early-to-mid 20th century to extract crushed stone, agricultural lime, and construction aggregate, with operations expanding significantly under the management of the Portage Stone Company before being acquired by Stoneco. For decades, the site was widely known within the mineralogical community for producing exceptional, multi-colored fluorite cubes and well-terminated celestine blades, which were actively saved by quarry workers and collected during organized club field trips. The quarry remains an active, heavy industrial producer of crushed dolostone in 2026, though modern liability regulations and increased automation have strictly restricted access for independent specimen collecting in recent years.

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