Fluorite on quartz
description: LOCALITY: Erongo Mountains, Namibia
2 1/2" across
This specimen is remarkable for two reasons. The condition is marvellous considering that it was mined from a hard rock cavity by artisan miners equipped only with simple hand tools. Fluorite is also a soft and easily cleaved mineral species that does not lend itself to being unearthed in such Spartan conditions.
Fluorites normally occur in Mississippi Valley Type deposits or skarns. It is much rarer for fluorite to occur in a pegmatite or granite.