Fluorapatite with Fluorite

specimen number:
9505914

location:
Panasqueira Mines, Beira Baixa, Portugal

description:

A beautiful cluster of glassy mostly gemmy green fluorapatite crystals, the backside of these coated with purple crystallized fluorite. There are no points of attachment, the specimen is in terrific condition. The quality is outstanding. The specimen is intensely fluorescent.

The Panasqueira Mines in Beira Baixa, Portugal, opened in 1898 and, aside from a brief temporary closure in 2003, remain actively in operation today. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within a sequence of late Precambrian to Cambrian metasedimentary rocks, primarily consisting of greenschist-facies shales, slates, and greywackes of the Beira schist formation. The mineralization occurs as a sub-horizontal system of quartz veins rich in tungsten, tin, and copper, which are genetically related to an underlying hidden Hercynian granitic pluton emplaced during the Late Carboniferous period.

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