Fluorite with Strontianite

specimen number:
2312108

location:
Minerva Mine #1, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA

description:
A cluster of rosy purple fluorite crystals, the largest measuring to 4.0 cm on edge, these hosting colorless needlelike crystals of strontianite. This is in good condition with very minimal cleaving present. Chalcopyrite is present as well. Crystallized naturally all around. Great combination piece from this classic locality.

The Minerva Mine Number 1, located in Hardin County, Illinois, is situated within the famous Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District, a major Mississippi Valley-Type mineralized region. Historically, commercial operations developed during the twentieth century to extract essential fluorspar for the steel and chemical industries, utilizing extensive underground mining techniques. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within faulted Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, primarily limestones, which were cut by intrusive igneous dikes. Mineralization occurred when warm, fluorine-rich hydrothermal fluids circulated through structural faults and bedding planes, depositing massive and crystalline fluorite alongside associated minerals such as calcite, barite, sphalerite, galena, strontianite, witherite and benstonite.

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