Fluorite with Sphalerite, Chalcopyrite

specimen number:
9506793

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

description:

A loose beautifully color zoned gemmy crystal of fluorite hosting several sharp twinned slightly translucent crystals of sphalerite to 1.1 cm in size. Small golden crystals of chalcopyrite are present as well. There are no repairs or restorations on this piece. In super condition all around. Very attractive when backlit.

The Denton Mine, located in the Harris Creek subdistrict of Hardin County, Illinois, was put into operation in 1981 as one of the later major underground sources for the region's fluorite industry, eventually closing alongside neighboring operations in the mid-1990s. Geologically, the mine operated within the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District, extracting bedding-replacement orebodies rich in fluorite, sphalerite, and barite that formed primarily in Mississippian-age carbonate strata, specifically along the Rosiclare and Sub-Rosiclare stratigraphic levels.

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