SM23-40
Calcite twin on Fluorite etched corner
Elmwood Mine, Carthage, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA
Small Cabinet, 9.5 x 6.7 x 4.4 cm
Ex. Dr. Robert Lavinsky; Dr. Steve Neely
$7,500.00 Payment Plan Available
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A truly unusual combination specimen from the productive Elmwood Mine! The major Calcite on this piece is doubly-terminated, twinned, and nearly 3 inches long. It has an amber colored arch over the top of it extending to the gemmy terminations with a turbid white to cream colored body. It is associated with a few smaller Calcite crystals and then a rather large, transparent lavender gem Fluorite of etched, unusual form. Fluorite corners, which are more common by themselves, are rarely seen on matrix associated with other minerals as seen in this piece. The top corner of the Fluorite is the remains of a cubic corner but actually looks like a three-sided 'pyramid'. It is a fluorite of gem quality, so transparent and lustrous that you can see right through to the Calcite behind it! The remainder of the Fluorite is slightly elongate, etched and slightly rough, tapering to a point. The paragenesis of this piece is undoubtedly complicated given the etching of the Fluorite occurred prior to the growth of the Calcite that partially surrounds the Fluorite and including some of the etched portion, so the Calcite post-dates the Fluorite - and yet the Fluorite corner had to have already formed from the previous large Fluorite cube that it was a part of in the first place (these are REALLY weird Fluorites that form as the centers of larger cubes dissolved under special conditions, leaving the spiky growths with gem corners to survive the original cube). This Fluorite corner is complete, sharp, and features the full stalk into what would have been the center of a cube. It is a great fluorite corner in and of itself but try finding another one in matrix! These qualities make it an exceptional small cabinet piece. This was long in the original collection of Dr. Steve Neely, the major collector of Elmwood material of all time. It was traded to me in the early 2000s and was then part of my own personal calcite collection until now. I bought it for the Calcite but it is equally good for the Fluorite and excels as a combination piece that stands out, even from thousands of known specimens from the mine.