Strontianite with Fluorite

specimen number:
9892157

location:
Minerva Mine #1, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA

description:
From the early 1980s, a beautiful combination of this Illinois classic. Balls of crystallized white strontianite measuring to 2.0 cm in diameter are covering approximately three quarters of the top of this blue gem lustrous fluorite crystal matrix. Some cleaving on the backside of the specimen, this still in good condition. Crystallized completely all around. Very fine and choice.

The Minerva Mine Number 1, located near Cave-in-Rock in Hardin County, Illinois, was a cornerstone of the historic Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district. Discovered in 1940 and sinking its primary shaft in 1942, the mine operated intermittently until its final closure in 1996. Geologically, the deposit sits within Mississippian-age carbonate host rocks, where fluorine-bearing hydrothermal fluids migrated through regional faults and bedding-plane replacement zones to form rich ore bodies. Mineralogically, the mine achieved world-renowned status among collectors for producing spectacular specimens, most notably exceptionally sharp cubic and multi-colored fluorite crystals often associated with sphalerite, calcite, barite, strontianite, and witherite.

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