5.7" Fluorite Crystal Cluster with Galena - Rogerley Mine

Here is a nice 5.7" wide cluster of Rogerley fluorite from the famed Rogerley Mine in County Durham, England. This particular kind of fluorite is unique in that it will actually fluoresce a beautiful purple-blue color in just natural light alone! Under short and long wave UV, these crystals fluoresce a vibrant purple color.

Galena crystals can be found in a cavity on what could be considered the back side of this specimen. It comes with an acrylic display stand.

The Rogerley Mine is located in the historic Weardale mining District of Northern England. First discovered in the early 1970s, the Rogerley Mine is the only mine in all of Britain to be worked on a commercial scale in the name of collecting crystallized mineral specimens. Since the summer of 1999, UK Mining Ventures has operated the Rogerley Mine on a seasonal basis, producing many fine, well crystallized specimens of green fluorite. Rogerley material is considered some of the finest fluorite in the world, and much of it has incredible fluorescent properties under both daylight and ultraviolet light.

Fluorite is a halide mineral comprised of calcium and fluorine, CaF2. The word fluorite is from the Latin fluo-, which means "to flow". In 1852 fluorite gave its name to the phenomenon known as fluorescence, or the property of fluorite to glow a different color depending upon the bandwidth of the ultraviolet light it is exposed to. Fluorite occurs commonly in cubic, octahedral, and dodecahedral crystals in many different colors. These colors range from colorless and completely transparent to yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, or black. Purples and greens tend to be the most common colors seen, and colorless, pink, and black are the rarest.

Galena is a lead-based mineral and the primary ore of lead, and has been used for its lead content for thousands of years. Galena typically displays a gray metallic luster and forms cubes or octahedral crystals. The chemical composition of galena is PbS.

While galena will not pose a health hazard by sitting on the shelf or even from casual handling, we suggest washing hands following handling due to the mineral's lead content.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Fluorite & Galena
LOCATION
Rogerley Mine, County Durham, England
SIZE
5.7 x 4.7"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#143066