Fluorite with Dolomite

specimen number:
8911005

location:
03 north, 15 stope, Elmwood Mine, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA

description:
Large lustrous grouping of deep purple slightly translucent cubic fluorite crystals, the prominent cluster 6.2 cm on edge, set up aesthetically from a breccia matrix that is coated with white pearly crystals of dolomite. Very minimal micro-cleaving present, this is in really good condition. The crystals are quite large for the species at this locality. The specimen comes with several previous labels including that of the Alton Collection one from Martin Jensen. The photo is taken with back lighting.

The Elmwood complex, comprising primarily of the Elmwood, Gordonsville, and Cumberland Mines, in Smith County, Tennessee, is situated within Paleozoic carbonate rock formations where mineralizing hydrothermal brines circulated through ancient, open solution cavities, faults, and breccia zones. Originally developed for industrial underground mining starting in the 1970s, the facility gained global renown among mineral collectors because miners recovered world-class crystal specimens from vugs and cavities intersected during operations. While the complex has experienced intermittent commercial closures and changes in corporate ownership over the decades, it remains a legendary locality celebrated for producing some of the finest aesthetic mineral crystals ever discovered.

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