5415 Barite, Dolyhir Quarry, Old Radnor, Powys, Wales
Barite crystals from the Dolyhir Quarry, Old Radnor, Powys, Wales.
Barite crystals from the Dolyhir Quarry, Old Radnor, Powys, Wales.
Colourless edingtonite with white natrolite from the Jacupiranga mine, Cajati, São Paulo, Brazil.
A single mesolite crystal from the Pune District (Poonah District), Maharashtra, India. Photo width is 11mm.
Silky white aggregates of dundasite from Zlaté Hory (Zuckmantel), Olomouc Region, Moravia (Mähren; Maehren), Czech Republic. Photo width 17mm.
Royal blue linarite in slag from the slag dumps, Menez-Plom, Carnoët, Callac, Côtes-d’Armor, Brittany, France. Photo width 5mm.
Boulangerite crystals in fluorite from the Yaogangxian Mine, Yaogangxian W-Sn ore field, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China. Photo width 11mm.
Prismatic natrolite crystals exhibiting the characteristic terminations on analcime from the Magheramorne Quarry, Larne, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Photo width 2.5mm.
Crude crystals of gold make up this specimen from the Roger A Mine, Mt Kare Valley, Mt Hagen, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. Photo width 5mm.
Black hexagonal hibonite with green spinel (out of focus top-middle) from Ambindandrakemba, Tranomaro Commune, Amboasary District, Anosy Region (Fort Dauphin Region), Tuléar Province (Toliara), Madagascar.
An uncommon black amphibole species, gedrite from Ludvika, Dalarna, Sweden. Specimen size is 20x20x15mm.
Melkovite, U-Mo occurrence, Shunak Mts, Mointy Railway Station, Mointy, Balkhash Region, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan. Type Locality. Certified (microprobe analyzed) sulfur-yellow melkovite, a rare hydrous Ca-Fe phosphate-molybdate, known only from the single locality in the world. Associated minerals are represented by dark-violet (almost black) fluorite, feldspars, hematite and very minor and...
Tiny reddish brown scalenohedral crystals of rhodochrosite scattered on manganite-mudstone, Moanda Mine, Moanda, Léboumbi-Leyou Department, Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon. Ex A.G. Moss Collection, number 962 (with label and card).
Tiny cream calcite crystals on dark purple fluorite from the Hill-Ledford Mine, Cave-in-Rock, Cave-in-Rock Sub-District, Illinois – Kentucky Fluorspar District, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA. Largest fluorite 65mm across. Mined in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Ex A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum (# DM 24769).
Blocky opaque apophyllite with minor colourless stilbite and white laumontite on green prehnite. 65x45x10mm. Ex Joe Cilen (7403). Ex Eugene Carmichael (562). Hydroxyapophyllite-(K), prehnite, stilbite, laumontite, from the Fairfax quarry (Centreville Quarry; Sisslers Quarry), Centreville, Culpeper Basin, Fairfax Co., Virginia, USA.
A neat pseudomorph of barite after alstonite from Nentsberry Haggs Mine, Nent Valley, Alston Moor District, Cumbria, England. Photo width 20mm.
Barite on calcite from Sidmouth Beach, Sidmouth, East Devon, Devon, England. Photo width 11mm.
Brown humite and pink spinel etched out of marble from Luc Yen, Yenbai Province (Yen Bai Province), Vietnam.
Purple strengite crystals, brownish-black rockbridgeite, orange botryoidal cacoxenite, and minor kidwellite. Part of the matrix appears to be vivianite. Width of view 11.5mm. Stack of 70 images. Click on the image below for a higher resolution version.
A 5mm wide pair of microlite group crystals from the Hollister prospects (Hollister Quarry), South Glastonbury, Glastonbury, Hartford Co., Connecticut, USA.
A plug for Mindat! I have had this specimen for many many years, and it was labelled simply wavellite, Bartow, Florida. The only Bartow in Mindat is in Georgia. So I used the Photo Search facility and typed in “wavellite from Florida”, and up popped photos of wavellite from Clear...
Smythite crystals in calcite from the Type Locality, State Route 37 road cut (6), Bloomington, Monroe Co., Indiana, USA. If you squint a little, you can make out the hexagonal outline. Specimen given to me a number of years ago by the late Jim Ferraiolo.
Interesting bipyramidal pyrite crystals, somewhat altered to brown goethite (although you can see some original pyrite peeking through on the edges) on calcite from Pint’s Quarry, Raymond, Black Hawk Co., Iowa, USA. The main cluster of crystals is 7mm across.
Cubes of galena with tiny pyrite cubes and minor reddish sphalerite from the Ballard Mine, Baxter Springs, Picher Field, Tri-State District, Cherokee Co., Kansas, USA. Specimen is 42mm wide. Ex Eugene Carmichael Collection (EWC 2295), ex Ed David Collection (111G), ex Peter Zodac Collection, ex Lawrence Conklin.
Purple fluorite nestled in amongst dolomite crystals from Liter’s Quarry (Hanson Aggregates Irvington Quarry), Breckinridge Co., Kentucky, USA. While looking at this through my microscope, I assumed it was a cube of fluorite, but the photo shows more detail. It has tried to develop into an octahedron, but has ended...
A zoned tourmaline, part foitite, part elbaite, according to the label, from the Mount Mica Quarry (Mount Mica Mine), Paris, Oxford Co., Maine, USA. It has broken at some point in its geological past, and healed again, but slightly offset, giving it a slightly bent look. It is 25mm long.
Red realgar and yellow orpiment from the Getchell Mine (North Pit; Center pit; South pit), Adam Peak, Potosi District, Osgood Mts, Humboldt Co., Nevada, USA. Interesting to see the crystallisation of each species seemingly oriented at 90 degrees to one another.
Realgar and pyrite from the famous Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld (Imfeld; Im Feld; Feld), Binn Valley, Wallis (Valais), Switzerland.
Analcime crystals from the Faroe Islands, Denmark. Labeled as Færøerne, Iceland. Ex John Lewis Collection.
Fibrous to acicular crystals of cacoxenite from Mason Pass, Yerington, Yerington District, Singatse Range, Lyon Co., Nevada, USA. Ex Hatfield Goudey (of goudeyite fame). Ex John Lewis Collection.
Bornite pseudomorph after chalcocite, Belmont Mine, Butte, Butte District (Summit Valley District), Silver Bow Co., Montana, USA. Labelled as A Vein, 3000 Level. Ex Hatfield Goudey. Ex John Lewis Collection.
Purple fluorite cubes with a number of other small faces, from Ungerhammerplatzl (Platzl), Unterlaussa, Altenmarkt bei Sankt Gallen, Liezen, Styria, Austria.
An uncommon borate species, vonsenite, from Manziana, Bracciano Lake, Rome Province, Latium, Italy.
The tabular tunisite crystals look like colourless wulfenite crystals. The long thin crystals are celestine, and there is also calcite with brownish cores present. Specimen is from Condorcet, Drôme, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
A group of golden titanite crystals, the front one being 2mm across, from Plattenkogel north slope, Anlauf valley, Gastein valley, Hohe Tauern, Salzburg, Austria. Other species present include adularia, a chlorite-group mineral, and albite.
Striking blue kinoite on colourless crystals of hydroxyapophyllite-(K) from the Christmas Mine (Red Bird shafts; Inspiration Mine; Hackberry shafts), Christmas, Christmas area, Banner District, Dripping Spring Mts, Gila Co., Arizona, USA. One of my favourite blue tones.
Yellow hexagonal zincite crystals from the An der Seilbahn slag locality, Hüsten, Arnsberg, Sauerland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Prismatic and acicular topaz crystals, with opal coating tridymite, and also capping one of the topaz crystals, from the Conca Cannas quarry, Masullas, Mt. Arci, Oristano Province, Sardinia, Italy.
Fragile tufted kidwellite from Indian Mountain, Cherokee Co., Alabama, USA. Collected in or before 1983.
A couple of very sharp analcime crystals nestled amongst pale pink kutnohorite from the Emilie Mine (Bülten-Adenstedt Mine), Peine, Lower Saxony, Germany. It’s nice to see zeolites in unusual combinations.
A lovely red almandine crystal as an inclusion in muscovite mica from the Spotted Tiger Mine, Mt Riddock Station, Harts Range (Harts Ranges; Hartz Range; Hartz Ranges), Central Desert Region, Northern Territory.
Monazite-(Ce) crystals make up most of the matrix of this specimen from Cow Flat (Bower Bird), Torrington, Clive Co., New South Wales. A couple of smoky quartz crystals are embedded. Ex Australian Museum, Sydney.
Monazite (dominant REE unknown), Kings Bluff Diggings, Olary, Olary Province, South Australia, Australia.
Stunning yellow stolzite crystals associated with cream-yellow-brown hoppered pyromorphite from the old Broken Hill Proprietary Mine (Proprietary Mine; BHP Mine), Broken Hill, Yancowinna Co., New South Wales.
One of the most iconic smoky quartz localities in Australia, Mooralla, Southern Grampians Shire, Victoria. This locality, which is a designated fossicking area, has produced many stunning smoky quartz specimens since the 1960s. They occur often on a bed of small clear quartz in miarolitic cavities in rhyolite. This one...
A classic Australian saléeite from the Ranger Mine (Ranger Uranium Mine), Kakadu, West Arnhem Region, Northern Territory. Highly fluorescent as can be seen in the photo below.
Lovely pale blue decrespignyite-(Y) from the Type Locality, Paratoo copper mine, Yunta, Olary Province, South Australia. Specimen is 35mm wide.
Hard to photograph these very glassy crystals of gmelinite-Na from Cairns Bay, Flinders area, Victoria.
Blue-green pseudomalachite balls on dark green libethenite crystals from the Lake Boga granite quarry, Lake Boga, Swan Hill Rural City, Victoria.
Colourless and purple fluorite cubes and colourless quartz crystals on white barite. Minor yellow wulfenite. Unknown black needles.
Classic Red Cloud wulfenite crystal group with tiny mimetite crystals.
2.2×1.6×1.5cm specimen of dioptase crystals with wulfenite crystals and zincian dolomite or minrecordite (not known if tested) from Tsumeb, Namibia. Ex Virgin Valley Sales. View Larger Map | Get Directions
Specimen is 40mm across.