Fluorite on Sphalerite

specimen number:
2062637

location:
Elmwood Mine, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA

description:
Gorgeous gemmy purple lustrous cubic crystals of fluorite measuring to 3.0 cm on edge set aesthetically up on a crystallized black lustrous sphalerite matrix. This is in excellent condition. Classic for this locality, collected in the mid to early 1980s. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Located near Carthage in Smith County, Tennessee, the Elmwood Mine was discovered in the late 1960s and began full commercial zinc production in 1975. Geologically, it is a classic Mississippi Valley-type deposit hosted within ancient Ordovician carbonate rocks, where slow-moving, low-temperature mineralizing brines filled open cavities, dissolution voids, and collapse breccias. While operated primarily as an industrial underground zinc source through changing corporate ownership over the decades, the mine achieved global renown among mineral collectors for yielding world-class, exceptionally large crystals.

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