Fluorite with Apatite (mined 1977 by Dave Bergman) (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

The Sweet Home mine is famous for its Rhodochrosite specimens, but it has produced some VERY nice Fluorites as well. For those who don't know, Richard Kosnar and his father-in-law Dave Bergman mined the Sweet Home for a few years during the late 1970's and managed to collect some excellent specimens. This piece is from one of the early pockets that Dave personally found when they started mining in 1977, and he kept it in his personal collection until this year. It features several sharp, purple color dodecahedral crystals of Fluorite measuring up to 3 mm associated with green and colorless, striated prisms of Apatite sitting on Quartz and sulfide matrix. This old specimen would make a great addition to any Colorado suite or a Fluorite collection. As mentioned this piece is from the collection of legendary Colorado miner, Dave Bergman. Dave is 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".