Fluorite on Barite with Sphalerite, barian Celestine

specimen number:
2102352

location:
Gordonsville Mine, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA

description:
Small sparkling crystals of fluorite scattered across the top of white crystallized barite. This set on matrix, there are colorless thin bladed crystals of barian rich Celestine scattered throughout. Some sphalerite is present within the matrix. In good condition. Note that the previous label refers to the Celestine as strontianite.

The Gordonsville mine, situated in Smith County near the town of Gordonsville within the Middle Tennessee Zinc District, United States, represents a highly productive underground zinc operation known for both industrial importance and spectacular mineral specimens. Geologically, this major Mississippi Valley-type MVT deposit is hosted within the Lower Ordovician-age Mascot Dolomite of the Knox Group, where mineralizing fluids moved through ancient collapse breccias and solution cavities beneath a regional unconformity. Circulating hydrothermal solutions precipitated massive ore-grade sphalerite along with localized, magnificent crystal pockets containing highly lustrous, iron-rich black sphalerite crystals, deep purple fluorite cubes, barite, and large, beautifully twinned golden calcite scalenohedrons. Historically, exploratory drilling by the New Jersey Zinc Company mapped out the deep orebodies during the late 1960s and early 1970s, leading to the official commencement of commercial production at the Gordonsville shaft complex in 1978. The facility experienced various corporate changes, including ownership by Piedmont Mining, Savage Zinc, and Pasminco, until a severe global zinc market downturn forced a temporary shutdown from 2003 to 2006, after which it was acquired and reactivated by Nyrstar. Through 2026, the Gordonsville mine operates as an integrated component of Nyrstar's East Tennessee Zinc complex, extracting high-grade zinc ore via mechanized room-and-pillar underground workings and continuing to serve as a world-class geological benchmark for mid-continent MVT mineral specimen production.

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