Celestine

specimen number:
2063482

location:
Maybee Quarry, Monroe Co., Michigan, USA

description:
Classic North American specimen with lustrous gemmy pale blue crystals of Celestine measuring to 1.0 cm in size forming a cluster without matrix. In excellent condition all around. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark. His label notes that this piece was collected by Terry Ostrom prior to 1981.

Located in Monroe County, Michigan, the Maybee Quarry cuts into Silurian period dolomite sedimentary formations rich in hydrothermal solution cavities and geodes. Mid-nineteenth to twentieth century quarrying operations exposed vugs coated with exceptionally fine mineral deposits while mining stone for agricultural and industrial uses. The site achieved international renown among mineral collectors for producing world-class specimens of celestine, a strontium sulfate mineral that forms spectacular, pale blue, transparent-to-translucent tabular and prismatic crystals inside open cavity pockets. Amateurs and museum curators heavily collected these sharp prismatic clusters from the limestone and dolomite walls until modern active quarry operations restricted public access to the locality.

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