Sphalerite

specimen number:
8911213

location:
Martin Marietta Aggregates Blue Rock Quarry, Perry, Fayette Co., Ohio, USA

description:
Good thumbnail for the species and locality, translucent lustrous hunting brown crystals of sphalerite to 0.3 cm in size rich and nice across the top of matrix. This is in good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

Located in Perry Township within Fayette County, Ohio, the Blue Rock Quarry extracted stone from Paleozoic carbonate strata characteristic of the region's extensive sedimentary bedrock. Commercial quarrying operations began in the 1950s under independent ownership and subsequently changed hands through several corporate entities, including the Fayette Limestone Company and American Aggregates, before being acquired by Martin Marietta Aggregates in the late 1990s. The site eventually ceased active excavation and flooded, becoming water-filled by the early twenty-first century. During its active operating decades, the quarry gained local recognition among mineral collectors for producing notable specimens of minerals such as calcite and sphalerite found within the limestone and dolomite formations.

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