Fluorite (penetration twin) on Quartz

Item Description

This is an older specimen from the Yaogangxian Mine, dating back to the early 2000s. It features a style / crystal habit that in my experience is not commonly seen from this mine. The piece hosts a groups of sharp, very gemmy, nearly colorless (very pale blue-green), cubic crystals with attractive internal "phantoms" sitting atop excellent, well-formed, colorless, gemmy, prismatic Quartz crystal matrix. The Fluorites exhibit wonderful penetration twinning, similar to the old lead mines of Northern England, and you can see the corners of one of the crystals pushing through another when the piece is viewed from above. The largest Fluorite measures 2.8 cm on edge. The piece is not completely undamaged, as there is a bit of roughness along a few edges of the Fluorite crystals, but the morphology and overall aesthetics make it a very desirable and eye-catching example from this famous locality. The piece also sits beautifully on its own without the aid of a base or clay. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".