Fluorite with Sphalerite

specimen number:
8911069

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

description:
Beautiful combination piece, lustrous gem purple cubic crystals of fluorite measuring to 3.8 cm on edge across the top of a crystallized sphalerite matrix. This is in super condition. The specimen comes with several previous collection labels, including that of the Alton collection and one noting that this was prior in the collection of Betty Kalaskie.

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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