Fluorite with Chalcopyrite

specimen number:
2312557

location:
Annabel Lee Mine, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA

description:

An attractive large grouping of translucent bluish purple color zoned fluorite crystals, the largest measuring 8.3 cm on edge. Small crystals of chalcopyrite are scattered throughout. Tiny micro-cleaving present, overall this is in really top condition. Semi lustrous with good translucency, attractive when backlit.

The Annabel Lee Mine, located in the Harris Creek sub-district of Hardin County within the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district, operated as a major underground facility during the latter half of the twentieth century before eventually closing alongside the broader regional decline of domestic fluorspar mining. Geologically, the deposit sits within Mississippi-aged sedimentary strata, where fluorite, sphalerite, barite, and calcite mineralization filled bedding-replacement deposits, brecciated zones, and open cavities created by hydrothermal solutions reacting with host limestones. Mineralogically, the mine became celebrated by collectors worldwide for yielding exceptional specimens of deep purple to blue fluorite crystals, often associated with sharp calcite, barite, and sphalerite, occasionally featuring distinct petroleum inclusions.

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