FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jordi Fabre]

Indiana the "Hoosier State"

[rweaver]

from the Tate collection

[rweaver]

Former collection of Mary and Gardner Miller

[Jesse Fisher]

Fluorite on limestone, 7 cm across, May Quarry, Fort Wayne, Indiana

[Jordi Fabre]

A nice Calcite from Indiana published by geoalfon in FMF Spain -> https://www.foro-minerales.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=36888#36888

[Carles Millan]

Calcite

Floater group of brown translucent to transparent calcite crystals with some breccia matrix attached. A classic of this Indiana locality. Note the uncommon rhombododecahedral habit, I believe {110} faces. It seems a garnet but I can swear it is not. Overall size: 70 mm x 40 mm x 35 mm. Major crystal size: 35 mm across. Ex Rick Russell collection.

Berry Materials Corp quarry, North Vernon Plant, NE edge of North Vernon, Jennings Co., Indiana, USA.

A very interesting post from Josele about the crystallography of this specimen is available at https://www.foro-minerales.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=154048#154048 (in Spanish language).

Photos copyright © Carles Millan. Reproduction allowed as long as the author's name is cited. Creative Commons Attribution License - Some Rights Reserved.

My Mindat Gallery - My Personal Gallery

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5454M-calcite2.jpg
Description:	Calcite Berry Materials Corp quarry, North Vernon Plant, NE edge of North Vernon, Jennings Co., Indiana, USA 70 mm x 40 mm x 35 mm
Viewed:	35981 Time(s)

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5454M-calcite4.jpg
Description:	Calcite Berry Materials Corp quarry, North Vernon Plant, NE edge of North Vernon, Jennings Co., Indiana, USA 70 mm x 40 mm x 35 mm
Viewed:	36003 Time(s)

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5454M-calcite3.jpg
Description:	Calcite Berry Materials Corp quarry, North Vernon Plant, NE edge of North Vernon, Jennings Co., Indiana, USA 70 mm x 40 mm x 35 mm Close up view
Viewed:	35979 Time(s)

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[Roger Warin]

Calcita. Meshberger Quarry, Indiana, Usa. 10x8 cm. Cristal de 7 cm

Hi,
Is what I see? This seems to be a hexagonal dipyramid {88.3} of calcite.
A good lot of fine minerals.
Roger.

[Pete Richards]

[Antonio Alcaide]

My two cents... you can see my interest focused in pyrites...

Regards

[Bob Harman]

This 7cm geode with a large 4cm spray of millerite was collected as a whole geode at the roadside in 2007.

[Bob Harman]

This quartz geode containing a 5cm double terminated Baryte was collected in 2011. It is unusual as a few 3cm millerite strands penetrate the top center of the Baryte from the underlying quartz.

[Bob Harman]

The best Barytes in Midwest geodes come from Indiana. This example, found about 2002 includes a lustrous 2.5cm double terminated crystal as part of the crystal grouping.

[Bob Harman]

Both fluorite and sphalerite are found in multiple locations in the sedimentary environment of Indiana. These egg yolk yellow fluorite cubes are small, being up to 1cm at this locality. They are commonly associated with small sphalerites, also being up to 1cm at this locality. The fluorite is strongly fluorescent and phosphorescent. The minerals are found in small fossil voids which are sometimes still recognizable as such. This is a very small locality, known only to some local collectors, but being from an easily worked roadcut they are easily collected. These and others were collected about 2005.

[Bob Harman]

In my previous posting the locality somehow got changed from my typed wording. The CORRECT LOCALITY is: Indiana rte 37 NORTH of BEDFORD in LAWRENCE COUNTY INDIANA

[Jordi Fabre]

[Bob Harman]

Pyrite is found in numerous Indiana locations with collectible crystals found in several localities. One of the most prolific and collectible localities is the Harding Street Quarry on the South side of Indianapolis. The pyrite nodules range from 1cm to about 6cm in size and are brilliantly lustrous and stable. They occur in the shale overburden and are thought to be replaced clam fossils, but I have never seen one with any resemblance to a clam. The nodules in matrix are uncommon in relation to the stand alone nodules.
This quarry produces limestone which is crushed up and shipped right next door to a large coal fired electric generating facility for the city of Indianapolis. The limestone is mixed with water and used to clean the coal emissions.
On my last field trip there the nodules sparkled in the morning sunlight and everyone found about a bucket full......not a bad field trip for that day!!!!

[Bob Harman]

For years now I have narrowly focused my collection toward Indiana minerals. Over the years I have managed to collect or acquire nice examples of most, if not all, the collectible minerals of Indiana and many of these minerals are from multiple localities. Over the next several months or years, when I have time, I will be posting an extensive array of these minerals from many Indiana localities. I favor posting these in this thread covering the states of the USA rather than in the "my own collection" thread, but they could have been posted in the "my collection" thread as well.
Here is a compiled list of collectible Indiana minerals. It does not include crusts, most rusty iron oxides, and evaporite minerals formed during dry spells when the limestone or dolostone matrix dries out. It also does not include any minerals found in glacial erratics, gold in stream beds or meteorites. Also I don't profess that this list is complete so please add any minerals that I might have inadvertently omitted.

THE MINERALS: Quartz (and chalcedony), Calcite, Aragonite, Baryte, Celestine, Dolomite (and the various ferroan dolomites including Ankerite), Pyrite, Marcasite, Smythite (the only mineral first recognized and named in Indiana), Chalcopyrite, Millerite, Honnessite (Jamborite and other poorly recognized millerite oxidation minerals), Malachite, Strontianite, Gypsum (Selenite), Fluorite, Sphalerite, Goethite, Galena and ? Hematite.
Any that I missed ???

[Bob Harman]

For CALCITE collectors, Indiana is a paradise. Hi quality collectible crystals are found in many quarries, vugs on roadcuts, and in geodes. Several quality examples have already been posted by others on this thread.
These 2 geodes are about the same size and both from the famous Harrodsburg roadcuts. But the crystals are quite different. The one on the left being a well formed rhombohedral crystal and the one on right being a similar size scalenohedral crystal with micromarcasite inclusions.

[Bob Harman]

ARAGONITE, a crystal polymorph of calcite, is fairly common from several Indiana localities altho not nearly so common as calcite. Occasionally well formed crystals may be found and this one surely qualifies as one of the best ever. It was collected about 1965 by a student mineral collector at Indiana University and passed thru several collectors/dealers until I acquired it about 2008. Since then I have displayed it several times and last year it was donated (along with 4 other specimens) to the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis where it will go on permanent display with their other Indiana minerals. In addition, it recently was pictured in the Mineralogical Record Midwest collections supplement under the Indiana State Museum pages.

[Bob Harman]

MARCASITE, like pyrite, is commonly found in Indiana. It often occurs in quarries and as inclusions in calcite and Baryte in geodes. When occurring in geodes it may not be able to be differentiated from SMYTHITE, a related iron sulfide. In quarries the crystals are small but occasionally well formed. These examples are both from a quarry near the town of Rensselaer in Jasper County; very close to the well known Marcasite locality in Pleasant Ridge Quarry.

One day quarry management called me at work to tell me they a blasted and there was something for me to see. In the East wall of the quarry, facing West, the blast had opened a huge void. When I arrived there, in late afternoon everything was sparkling in the setting sunlight. I climbed a 10 foot ladder into the void and everywhere was tiny sparkling crystals on limestone plates looking quite like the gills of a shark. These are 2 examples from that void collected about 1985.