Fluorite with Barite, Chalcopyrite

specimen number:
2013470

location:
Denton Mine, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA

description:
A gorgeous grouping of highly translucent purple cubic fluorite crystals, these hosting small yellow crystals of tabular barite and golden crystals of chalcopyrite. This is in really good condition. Beautiful when backlit as shown in the picture and at the end of the video. Crystallized naturally all around. There are no points of attachment. From the middle 1980s.

The Denton Mine, located in Hardin County, Illinois, was part of the Illinois Kentucky Fluorspar District and operated from 1979 until 1993 during the later phase of mining in the region. The deposit consists of hydrothermal vein mineralization hosted in limestone, where fluorine rich fluids moved through fractures and deposited fluorite along with associated minerals such as calcite, galena, and sphalerite. Mining was carried out by underground methods, following these mineralized zones at depth. The mine is well known among collectors for its fine fluorite specimens, which commonly occur as well formed cubic crystals displaying colors ranging from purple to yellow, often with zoning and good transparency. These crystals formed in open cavities under conditions that allowed for slow and well developed growth, and specimens from the Denton Mine are valued for their quality and as examples from one of the last major producing periods in the district.

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