Fluorite with Chalcopyrite

specimen number:
9892168

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

description:
A grouping of mostly gemmy lustrous light purple cubic fluorite crystals, scattered aesthetically across these faces are bright golden crystals of sharp chalcopyrite measuring to 0.3 cm in size. Cleaved on the base and only a small area on the backside, this is in good condition. Neat combination miniature specimen from this famous locality.

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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