Fluorite w/ Quartz (rare) Chet Lemanski Coll.

Item Description

Distinctive highly desirable fluorites in small quantities were briefly available in the early 1990s from this Soviet-era tungsten mine. No more have been found since 1995 and the Akchatau Mine closed in 2003. Two generations of fluorite cover this extremely rich and impressive large undulating specimen. First generation, lustrous violet-black octahedrons, to about 2.5 cm, cover the piece and have an interesting faint green tint under bright light. Lustrous, deep violet, stepped-growth crusts of second generation fluorite coat most of the octos, adding contrast and color. Scattered glassy, translucent, terminated quartz crystals, to 2.7 cm, were a typical accessory and fine complement from the finds. The mine also produced a few superb and colorful combination specimens of purple fluorite, blue to blue-green fluorapatite crystals and colorless glassy bertrandite crystals. Ex Chet Lemanski Collection and acquired in 2001. Fluorite specimens of this size and richness are considered RARE from here.