Fluorite (cleavage octahedron)

specimen number:
2063524

location:
Southern Illinois Fluorspar District, Illinois, USA

description:

An attractive polished deep purple translucent fluorite cleavage octahedrons. Perfect all around. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark. The size provided measures from one point to another point.

Spanning Hardin and Pope counties, the Southern Illinois Fluorspar District hosted major ore deposits formed within Paleozoic limestones along deep-seated faults, driving extensive underground mining from the late nineteenth century through the late twentieth century that produced world-class mineral specimens. Among collectors, the district is especially famous for fluorite cleavage octahedrons, which are geometric forms created by carefully striking raw, blocky fluorite masses with a chisel or blade along their four perfect internal cleavage planes. This traditional technique exploits natural crystal weaknesses to split away outer layers, transforming flawed or broken material into smooth, eight-sided octahedral specimens.

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