FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[John Medici]

Philip, this pseudo photo may answer your question. (The quick digital picture shows it a little darker than it really is.). I really liked the nearly complete modified tetrahedron floater. Also, we did not collect the deep green fluorite/smoky pocket(s); Ray De Mark knows much more about them than I do. The one shown is also a single specimen; also found were a few isolated darker green and 2-tone fluorite crystal pieces, in the float. We never thoroughly investigated that area.

John

[Philip Simmons]

John,

I recognized the pseudomorph right away. These don't come from the mine I work at (Intrepid Potash East mine), but from another mine about 15 miles to the southwest. The pseudomorphs technically are a mix of sylvite and halite (usually called sylvinite) and were found in a clay seam several feet thick in the middle of the ore horizon. I've talked to a miner that actually collected these and he said the crystals could just be plucked out of the clay. They weren't super common, and he said almost all of crystals had at least a little bit of damage. They are a really neat occurrence, though.

Yeah, my dad has a cluster of green fluorite/smoky quartz that he got from Ray. To my knowledge, there were only a few specimens found, and the people who knew the most about the occurrence were Ray, Mike Sanders and Mike Jaworski. I would love to see the best specimens collected from this pocket!

[Jordi Fabre]

One rarity

[Antonio Alcaide]

One more from New Mexico.

Regards

[Tobi]

Long time nothing happened in this thread, I will restart with a blue fluorite classic from N.M.:

[Tobi]

Smithsonite from N.M.:

[Tobi]

[Fiebre Verde]

You should maybe try a black background with your nice smithsonite, like the fantastic job you did with the sphalerite.

[Tobi]

[Philip Simmons]

Nice smithsonite, Tobi!

[rweaver]

Nice Old timer most likely mined in the early 1900's. Was in the Gary Weaver Collection and he acquired in from Mineralman at some point. And that leads to my question about the old label that came with it. Does anyone recognize what collection this might have come out of? I have already gone through Minrecords label database with no luck.

[James Catmur]

That is a dealer label - Ward's or English, I think

[rweaver]

[James Catmur]

People tended to cut them off - on the ones I have they have been cut off too

[Philip Simmons]

It is very likely a Ward's label. I've attached a picture of one where the bottom wasn't cut off. I also have one with the locality info handwritten.