Fluorite

Sold Without Reserve

Fluorite

Orange River, Warmbad, Namibia

Overall size 9.0 x 6.0 x 5.3 cm. The interpenetrating, sharply defined fluorite octahedrons of intense green color, the largest measuring approximately 48 mm in length, on top of frosted quartz points. With custom lucite base.

Certainly one of the most popular collectible minerals, calcium fluoride (CaF2) occurs in numerous important deposits spanning the globe. The nearly infinite array of available colors, often occurring in multi-color zoned “phantom” growth, have long delighted mineral collectors and lapidaries alike. Valuable as a smelting agent and for use in certain types of glass and optics, it has been mined in great quantities for industrial purposes. Vividly colored specimens with aesthetic crystal growth are best known from classic North American deposits in Illinois and Tennessee, European localities in Spain and England, and more recently from several exciting Chinese discoveries.