SM21-019
Fluorapophyllite
Fengjiashan Mine (Daye copper mine), Daye Co., Huangshi, Hubei, China
Small Cabinet, 8.0 x 4.1 x 3.4 cm
Ex. Dr. Stephen Smale
$3,000.00 $2,250.00
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This is a textbook cluster of bladed, tabular Fluorapophyllite crystals from the Fengjiashan Mine mine in China that have a pinkish hue to them. There must be over a dozen crystals that comprise this attractive cluster hosting Fluorapophyllite crystals that are atypical for the species in that they are very thin and have unusual crystal shape. Many exhibit zoning around the periphery of each crystal that is quite unlike any other Fluorapophyllites we've seen. We are used to the Apophyllites from India or maybe Mexico and Germany, but none of those localities have this distinctive platy habit: The crystals are mostly rectangular in shape, very thin and clear, except when they are aggregated and the central areas are then translucent and they all have a pinkish cast to them. Most of the crystals have a thin, whitish zone or phantom within a few millimeters of the edge of the crystals, that is also quite unique to this find. This elongate cluster is composed of crystals that vary between just under a centimeter up to 3.6 cm across. From the original discovery here circa 2003, and long in the collection of Dr. Steve Smale of Berkeley, one of the largest collectors of Chinese minerals in the world over the years.