Fluorite

specimen number:
2292175

location:
Navidad Mine, Durango, Mexico

description:
Attractive rosy purple translucent octahedral crystals of fluorite measuring to 2.5 cm in size on matrix. This is in excellent condition.

The Navidad mine, located in the Inde municipality of Durango, Mexico, is a notable underground mineral locality famous for producing collector specimens of light purple fluorite on contrasting white quartz and chalcedony matrices. Geologically, the deposit is a low-sulfidation epithermal vein system hosted within Tertiary volcanic rocks, primarily rhyolitic tuffs and ignimbrites associated with the Sierra Madre Occidental volcanic province. Hydrothermal fluids circulating through regional faults and fractures precipitated quartz, fluorite, and minor calcite in open vugs, with structural factors and specific trace elements giving the fluorite its distinctive light purple color. While small-scale prospectors and artisanal miners operated shallow surface quarries and tunnels in the district intermittently throughout the twentieth century, focused mining for these specific, highly prized fluorite specimens intensified in the early 2000s, with peak specimen production occurring between 2005 and 2012 before underground operations scaled back to sporadic, localized extraction.

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