UV Lights and Fluorescent Minerals - a fun side hobby to metal detecting !

[KingTotsalot]

Another specimen arrived today in the Royal Mailbox from Afghanistan via a Pakistani mineral dealer. It had a somewhat vague location so KT went into Mindat.org, and entered Corundum, Afghanistan and discovered there were only 3 localities listed, one for ruby and two for sapphire. There were pictures of specimens from both the sapphire localities and the matrix on one of the pictures looks identical to this specimen, so His Majesty assumes this specimen is from Ab-i-Panja, Ishkashim District, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan.

The first picture is in natural light and the sapphire crystals are both bluish and white. KT also spent a bit of time looking to find a name for the white variety of corundum and guess what He found out…...there are two varietal names for corundum, one is ruby, and the other is sapphire. Ruby is red and sapphire may be any other color than red. Sapphire is a trade name for gem blue corundum, but mineralogists are not so picky. Sapphire can be white, blue, tan, yellow, etc., but only ruby can be red!

Anyway, in the first picture the sapphire occurs as elongate bluish and whitish crystals in a micaceous matrix. This specimen was very dirty with cotton lint and KT washed it to remove most of the cotton contamination. The second picture is in 365nm and both bluish and whitish sapphire fluoresce pink. His Majesty did check with SW 254nm and there is a very weak response, also in pink, but not worthwhile to photograph.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two specimens arrived today in the Royal Mailbox from an English dealer! The box was seriously smashed in, but fortunately the specimens were well packed and suffered no damage!

The first specimen is a half sphere of Witherite with a non-fluorescent coating of barytocalcite on its exterior from Settlingstones Mine, New Brough, Northumberland, England. It is a miniature. The first picture was taken in natural light, the second in LW 365nm, and the third in SW 254nm.

The second specimen is a micro of Uranophane fibers from the Madawaska Mine, Faraday Township., Ontario, Canada. Pictures taken at 30X through the Royal Microscope. The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm, the second image displaying a typical Uranium green fluorescence. No noticeable response in SW 254nm.

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two American specimens arrived in the Royal Mail today!

The first one is rather unique, and that is why KT bought it. Not very noticeable in natural light, this half of a Dugway geode from Juab County, Utah does have a nice polish (Picture 1). But in SW 254nm light, there is a central face of a young smilin’ Cyclops happy to be seen! HA HA When His Majesty saw this piece on eBay, He wondered if anyone else saw it but they apparently did not, for KT got it for the minimum bid! The Cyclops is wishing everyone out there a Happy New Year!

The second specimen also held a surprise, but His Majesty did not see it until He received the specimen. The piece was sold as Willemite from Sterling Hill Mine, Franklin, Sussex Co., New Jersey and is shown in Picture 3 in natural light. Picture 4 is in SW 254nm light, and the Willemite is a nice green and there are two different blue minerals showing up….the specks are sphalerite, and the darker rather dull blue is Hardystonite in the matrix. In Picture 5, taken in LW 365nm, the sphalerite specks show up as both blue white and pink grains, indicating that it is the variety Cleiophane of Sphalerite! So KT got a 3 for the price of one specimen!

Enjoy the pictures and as the Cyclops would say, “Happy New Year!”

 

[KingTotsalot]

A few days ago KT had an email conversation with Chris Rayburn of Denver, CO, concerning the situation relative to collecting Arkansas wavellite. After that, he told me about a fluorescent wavellite from the National Limestone Qy. No. 2, Lime Ridge, Mount Pleasant Mills, Perry Twsp., Snyder County. PA.

I asked if he had any specimens to trade and lo and behold, he had one with KT's name on it, just needing the Royal snail mail addy to send it to His Majesty.

Well, it arrived today. The first picture is in natural light, the second is in SW 254nm (all 3 of the Royal SW UV lamps on it), and the third picture is in LW 365nm from one of my cheap single cree led small flashlights. It is certainly a stronger response in LW than SW!

Enjoy the pics! Later this week KT shall send him a colorless wavellite micro crystal specimen from the North Wilson Pit at Potash Sulphur Springs, Garland Co., in exchange!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Over the past couple of weeks, KT has won several Chinese fluorescent calcite specimens on eBay and this was the first one to arrive at the Royal Castle! It is a nice sparkly crystal specimen from the Longyan Mine, Southwestern Fujian Province, China.


The first picture is in natural light and the stubby crystals form a solid coating over the specimen’s matrix. The second picture was taken with LW 365nm and has a pink response to the UV light to the naked eye. The Royal cell phone photo showed a strong blue response, due to a large reflection of the blue light emitted from the lamp. So KT took the photo on the eBay seller’s site because this is what it looks like to the naked eye. His Majesty is certain they used a filter to eliminate the reflected UV. His Majesty would call the color pink. The response to SW 254nm is weak enough that KT did not bother to show it.

Enjoy the photos!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Along the line of fluorescent Chinese Minerals……

Another pair arrived in the Royal Mailbox today, but not a calcite in the batch! The first picture is of Corundum, var. Ruby, in marble from the Yuanjiang Mine, Yuanjiang County, Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China. The second picture is the same view in LW 365nm, and the third picture is the reverse, also in LW 365nm. Pretty bright fluorescence!

The fourth picture is of a Eucryptite vein in matrix from the Xiangualing Mine, Hunan Province, China in natural light. And the last (5th) picture is in SW 254nm. Another very bright red fluorescent mineral!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Another Chinese Calcite!


The first picture is a natural light photo of calcite crystals scattered on a dark drusy quartz coated matrix from the Longyan Mine, SW Fujian Province, China. That location should ring a bell as one of KT's recent posts of a Chinese calcite was from this same locality!

The second picture is in LW 365nm, and the third picture is in SW 254nm.

Enjoy the photos!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Finally, after several days of no delivery, partially due to MLK Holiday and icy roads, today KT found a package in the Royal Mailbox!

In it were 2 specimens from a Chinese dealer. Green fluorite with a dusting of drusy quartz (many dealers call this druse “Sugar” and market it as Sugar Fluorite), with late simple hexagonal prisms of calcite with trigonal terminations. Then came the problem: Labeled from China. This kind of labeling makes KT MAD! Like saying Quartz is from the USA! Where ????? So KT emailed the seller if he could provide a better location. While waiting for a reply, His Majesty spent over 1 hour browsing on Mindat.org, and found a couple of possible sites in different provinces. Not very satisfactory….then KT got the dealer's kind reply….from the Xianghualing Mine, Chenzhou City, Yishang County, Hunan, Province, China. KT had gotten close, had the right city, county and province, but wrong mine! HA HA

Anyway the problem of labeling being resolved, the first picture is of dark green small fluorite coated with white calcite crystals, the quartz druse hides the green color of the fluorite. The 2nd picture was taken with LW 365nm, the exposed fluorite fluorescing typical blue and the calcite a moderate orange. The 3rd picture was taken in SW 254nm (3 lamps) and is a bit stronger response, particularly the calcite with a nice orange.

The second specimen is represented by pictures 4-6. The fluorite cubes are up to 1 cm diagonally, some have a heavy coat of quartz druse and some do not. Picture 4 is in natural light. Picture 5 was taken in LW 365nm and the response is pretty much the same as picture 2. Picture 6 was taken in SW 254nm and the fluorite cubes stand out better due to their size as blue areas and the calcite is a reasonably strong orange response.

Enjoy the pics!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Several packages arrived today in the Royal Mailbox, one from Tamu, and the other two from Afghanistan and Pakistan!

The first specimen photographed consists of afghanite (blue) in a white skarn matrix of calcite and diopside. The specimen is from Badakhshan Province, (Skardu Valley?), Afghanistan. The first picture shows the specimen in natural light, the second in LW 365nm with the afghanite displaying a nice orange color. The third picture shows the specimen’s response in SW 254nm, no response from the afghanite, but the calcite is red and the diopside is cream white to bluish white. An interesting skarn specimen.

The second specimen is calcite on fluorite cubes from Baluchistan Province, Pakistan. The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm. The orange spots scattered throughout the calcite are likely included petroleum. The dealer did not know what the spots were composed of, but from its LW response as inclusions, this is similar to what I have seen in both fluorite and calcite from various locations in the USA.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Box of fluorescent minerals arrived today! KT had been wanting some Arizona specimens and these two were the first His Majesty managed to win on eBay!

Two of the specimens are Hydrozincite, Calcite and Willemite from the Nelly James prospect AKA Holenstein mine, Miller Peak, up Miller Canyon, Cochise Co., Arizona. There is an interesting bit of mining lore about this “mine” given in Mindat.org. Check it out under Nelly James prospect, AZ.

The first and third photos are of the two specimens in natural light...pretty underwhelming! HA HA
The 2nd and 4th photos are of the same two specimens in SW 254nm, and are interesting viewing.

The 3rd specimen in the box was a gift from the dealer in New Jersey, a decent example of Willemite and Franklinite shown in photo 5 in natural light, and rather spectacular in SW 254nm response. It always blows KT away when He sees specimens that look blah in natural light and zonkers in UV response!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Karl Schafer, a Royal Friend, was kind enough to send KT a specimen of tenebrescent hackmanite that he collected from a marble xenolith in the Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada back in 1988. This is the first piece of hackmanite that exhibits tenebrescence in my collection. Hackmanite is basically sodalite that undergoes significant reversable color change from in sunlight when exposed to UV LW light for some period of time. If kept in the dark it will hold that color but fades in sunlight, in this case to a strong pink color. This specimen when received is a purplish pink in indoor lighting in the first image. In the second picture, I left it exposed to indoor lighting and added LW 365nm and the hackmanite responds with a strong red color. In the third picture, taken in only LW 365nm, it responds a strong orange.

Karl stated that this specimen was collected in 1988.

Royal Thanks Karl, and enjoy the pics, everyone!

 

[KingTotsalot]

A large box arrived yesterday and barely fit in the Royal mailbox! It contained 3 larger specimens of fluorescent samples from Arizona. KT is showing you one specimen in this post as they are somewhat similar in UV light and after taking pictures of them the Royal Photographer had a bit of trouble getting them in the correct order….HA HA!

Anyway, the first specimen is Calcite, Fluorite, and a trace of Willemite from the Purple Passion Mine near Wickenburg, Yavapai County, Arizona. It is a small cabinet specimen.

The first pair of pictures are of what KT called the obverse, first in natural light and then in LW 365nm. The blue LW response shows the obverse is mostly white fluorite that has a strong blue response with a few calcite patches (red).

The next two pictures are of the reverse of this same specimen, again natural light and SW 254nm. The fluorite responds in both LW and SW with a blue color, the calcite more strongly in SW with a red/orange color, and the willemite with a pastel greenish color in SW, unlike the willemite in some previous posts of specimens from Franklin, NJ, which has a brilliant green response in both LW and SW light.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Here is the 2nd of the samples from Arizona!

This specimen also is composed of Calcite, Fluorite, and Willemite from the Black Rock Mine, Trigo Mountains, La Paz County, Arizona.

The first picture is in natural light and also has a mm scale, note it is a double fist sized cabinet specimen. In natural light it is difficult to distinguish the various minerals. The second picture is in LW 365nm and you will note the strong blue fluorescence of fluorite, and minor red response of calcite. The third picture is in SW 254nm. Fluorite is still blue, calcite is strong red, and willemite is pastel green. There is very little Willemite on this view of the specimen. KT left the scale off the last two photos as it was not necessary since scale is given in the first photo. All pictures taken from the same distance and position.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Here is the last of the samples from Arizona!

This specimen is also Calcite, Fluorite, and Willemite, but from the Red Mine, Trigo Mountains, La Paz County, Arizona.

The first picture is in natural light and also has a mm scale, note it is a larger fist sized cabinet specimen. In natural light it is difficult to distinguish the various minerals. The second picture is in SW 254nm. Fluorite is still blue, calcite is strong red, and willemite is pastel green. Willemite is scattereed as grains and trails of grains within this specimen. KT left the scale off the last photo as it was not necessary since you can see the size in the first photo.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

KT has been remiss in posting to this thread due to a second week long bout with upper respiratory virus which He is slowly recovering from. His Majesty felt well enough to take one set of photos yesterday so this is what the Forum members get from KT today!

The specimen is composed of blue afghanite with white calcite from Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan. The first photo is in natural light, the second is in LW 365nm, and the third is in SW 254nm. Interesting contrast...the afghanite fluoresces a bright orange in LW and the calcite fluoresces a nice pink orange in SW.

Enjoy the photos!

 

[KingTotsalot]

A box that barely fit in the Royal Mailbox arrived early this week and it contained several specimens. This is one of that batch.

It consists of massive crystalline Sphalerite and Fluorite, var. Cleiophane, from the Buckwheat Dump, Franklin, Sussex Co., New Jersey. Collected in 2023.

The first picture shows the specimens in natural light. What first appears to be a fair amount of light colored mineral in this photograph, is actually mostly bright cleavage reflections of the randomly oriented grains of dark sphalerite. In hand specimen the pieces are much darker to the naked eye.

The second picture shows the specimens response to LW 365nm. The orange is the sphalerite, and the fluorite is blue to pinkish blue. In response to turning off the LW, the specimens display around 10 seconds of orange phosphorescence! The third picture is in SW 254nm. Decent response from both the sphalerite and the fluorite. There are a few noticable green responding grains scattered about, likely willemite, but pretty minor, and not the typical brilliant green folks expect from willemite of this location. Absolutely no phosphorescence in response to SW UV.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

A rather unusual fluorite specimen arrived in KT's Royal Mailbox the other day. This example is from Boltry Limestone Quarry, Seilles, Andenne, Namur, Wavonia, Belgium and is a gift from His Majesty's friend, Herwig Pelckmans, who presently is in the USA to attend this years Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. I hope he is having a good time!

The specimen I tack mounted into the base of a US Perky T/N box, so the FOV ~ 1 inch. This purple fluorite specimen came from a find in 1970 when a vein of fluorite was discovered in that quarry. As of 2019, the quarry was still producing rock for cement. Look this site up on Mindat.org for its history. Anyway, the fluorite from this site may be purple, green, or pale purple. To the naked eye, this specimen is almost opaque to incident light.

The first photo is in natural light and shows its flattened octahedral form and nice purple color. But most unusual is its strong red fluorescence in LW 365nm in the 2nd picture. It has no response to SW 254nm. Worldwide fluorite is a fairly common mineral, and often fluorescent a strong blue color, however red is much rarer. A scan of eBay will show a lot of “Black Rose” fluorite coming from a vaguely described locality in China, being sold out of Pakistan. However most of this fluorescent red fluorite is cubic and well documented that it is heat treated, either by the Pakistani dealers, or by the Chinese. The dealers will deny any knowledge of heat treatment , due either to dishonesty or ignorance. There are two localities in Mexico that yield fluorite, also cubic, in light to dark purple, that fluoresce a nice red for some of the crystals. Herwig was kind enough to furnish me the link to the Quarry in Mindat.org.

Enjoy the pictures and thanks Herwig!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Another one from the large package KT received last week in the Royal Mailbox.

The specimen consists of Eucryptite and Spodumene from the Harding Pegmatite, Taos Co., New Mexico. The first picture is in natural light, a uniformly white fine granular rock. The second picture is in LW 365nm. Both Spodumene and Eucryptite respond with a bluish white to LW. Picture 3 shows the individual Eucryptite masses responding as red in SW 254nm, while the Spodumene matrix still responses a bluish white to SW.

A fairly interesting specimen! Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

This specimen is the first reported Cerussite from the Arthur Pb-Zn Mine from near Monarch, the Short Mtn Mining District, Marion Co., AR. KT was loaned this specimen by the Office of State Geologist for an identification. KT's identification is based on its association with Galena cleavages and it being perched across druzy quartz, the last epithermal mineral reported in many of the lead zinc deposits of the region. And also based on its decent fluorescence!

The first picture is in natural light. The second in LW 365nm, with the cerussite displaying a reasonable yellow response. The third picture is in SW 254nm and the cerussite displays a blue white response. These are typical response colors for cerussite as listed in Fluomin.org. The location given in Mindat.org only lists galena, sphalerite, and druzy quartz present, so this is the first record of cerussite's presence in that mining district!

Unfortunately, this specimen must be returned to the OSG for their collections.

But we can at least see the pictures! Enjoy the pics!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Another specimen from the large Royal Mailbox last week! This one consists of veinlets of Willemite in Calcite from the Sterling Hill Mine, Franklin Mining District, Ogdensburg, Sussex Co., NJ.

The first picture is in natural light, the second in LW 365nm, with the calcite showing a red response and the Willemite veining a green response. The third picture is in SW 254nm, the calcite showing an orange response and the willemite a bright green response. Interestingly more willemite is seen in the SW than the LW, thought it is present through with both.

Enjoy the pictures! This specimen is going onto The Royal New Jersey cabinet top!