Fluorapatite (classic material)

Item Description

This is an older specimen from the 1970s from Panasqueira featuring many sharp, tabular, soft green color, translucent hexagonal crystals of Fluorapatite measuring up to 1.4 cm across, associated with scattered metallic Pyrite on the front, and a complete coverage of Pyrite on the thin layer of matrix. A few of the Apatite crystals are contacted, so the piece is not pristine, but it's still a fairly showy and displayable example of what are certainly some of the most renowned Fluorapatites from any world locality. The crystals fluoresce a pale yellow-green hue under UV light. From the collection of Richard ("Dick") Philip Hauck formerly of Bloomfield, New Jersey and now a resident of Franklin, New Jersey. Dick is an avid collector of minerals, books, and mining memorabilia, along with being an accomplished author in the mineral world. Arguably, his greatest claim to fame is being the co-founder of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, NJ. Dick purchased the land on which the Sterling Hill Mine resides in 1988, and the museum has been running strong since.