SM21-172
Fluorite (phantom) with Dolomite
Shangbao Mine, Leiyang Co., Hengyang, Hunan, China
Small Cabinet, 9.3 x 6.3 x 6.2 cm
Ex. Dr. Stephen Smale
SOLD

This is colorful Shangbao Mine Fluorite that displays light blue and purple colors with a dark phantom core within. This cabinet piece has great geometry with numerous, transparent to translucent stepped-face Fluorite cubes between 1 and 4.7 cm across that display both a glassy and a satin luster depending on the face. This cluster is purple at its core with a thick, pale blue exterior, and the purple core is revealed at any orientation. There is a small cluster of 3 to 7 mm, milky Quartz crystals off to one side in the front. The satin luster is largely attributed to light frosting of microcrystalline Quartz that preferentially highlights select faces. The Fluorite fluoresces purple under shortwave fluorescent lighting. This has small saddle-shaped dolomites in a pocket in back. That, and the style of the dark purple phantom within, lets us know it is Shangbao Mine (old material from the 1990s) and not Yaogangxian material. From the Chinese collection of Dr Steve Smale, with label