Parisite-Ce

specimen number:
2063535

location:
Snowbird Mine, Mineral Co., Montana, USA

description:
A thick cluster of semi lustrous brown prismatic crystals of parisite-Ce, the largest 2.8 cm in length, most about one half or less of this, with little attached matrix. Crystallized completely all around, in good condition. Very fine miniature for the species and locality.

Located near Alberton in Mineral County, Montana, the Snowbird Mine is situated within a unusual pegmatitic carbonatite deposit characterized by large, coarse-grained masses of quartz, calcite, and fluorite. Discovered in the mid-1950s and operated briefly as a open-pit fluorite producer by F and S Mining Company, the site quickly became world-famous among mineral collectors for its exceptionally sharp, lustrous crystals. Hydrothermal fluids rich in rare earth elements, fluorine, and carbonate led to the growth of notable secondary minerals in matrix cavities, most prominently parisite-Ce. This rare cerium-dominant fluorcarbonate species forms distinct, sharply double-terminated, tapered hexagonal crystals ranging in color from amber-yellow to dark reddish-brown. Although commercial operations ceased long ago, the abandoned deposit remains a classic locality celebrated by mineral collectors for producing some of the finest known North American specimens of parisite-Ce.

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