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3.8" Deep Purple Fluorite on Druzy Quartz - Elmwood Mine
This is a 3.8" wide specimen of beautiful deep purple cubic fluorite crystals on a sparkling druzy quartz encrusted matrix from the famous Elmwood mine in Tennessee. The largest cube is .85" wide. It comes with an acrylic display stand.
The Elmwood Mine
The Elmwood Mine in central Tennessee is one of the world’s premier localities for fluorite, barite, and sphalerite, producing specimens renowned for their size, color, and exceptional crystal quality. Forming within Mississippi Valley–Type (MVT) deposits, Elmwood fluorite is famous for its rich grape-purple cubes—often water-clear and stepped—with barite perched elegantly on top in creamy clusters or golden blades. The mine’s sphalerite is equally celebrated, yielding lustrous, gemmy crystals ranging from fiery orange to deep red-black. Together, these species make Elmwood one of the most iconic and collectible mineral localities on the planet, known for generating museum-grade combinations unmatched in aesthetics and mineralogical significance.
Commercial mining at Elmwood began in the late 1960s, when the site was developed as part of the larger Central Tennessee zinc district. For decades, the mine operated primarily as a major source of high-grade zinc ore for industrial use, with fluorite, barite, and collector-quality sphalerite crystals forming as spectacular but incidental byproducts of the ore-extraction process. Periodic closures and reopenings—driven by fluctuating zinc prices and ownership changes—have made fine Elmwood specimens increasingly coveted over time. Although the mine’s primary purpose was always zinc production, its unexpected yield of world-class mineral specimens has cemented Elmwood’s place as one of the most important and beloved mineral localities in North America.
The Elmwood Mine in central Tennessee is one of the world’s premier localities for fluorite, barite, and sphalerite, producing specimens renowned for their size, color, and exceptional crystal quality. Forming within Mississippi Valley–Type (MVT) deposits, Elmwood fluorite is famous for its rich grape-purple cubes—often water-clear and stepped—with barite perched elegantly on top in creamy clusters or golden blades. The mine’s sphalerite is equally celebrated, yielding lustrous, gemmy crystals ranging from fiery orange to deep red-black. Together, these species make Elmwood one of the most iconic and collectible mineral localities on the planet, known for generating museum-grade combinations unmatched in aesthetics and mineralogical significance.
Commercial mining at Elmwood began in the late 1960s, when the site was developed as part of the larger Central Tennessee zinc district. For decades, the mine operated primarily as a major source of high-grade zinc ore for industrial use, with fluorite, barite, and collector-quality sphalerite crystals forming as spectacular but incidental byproducts of the ore-extraction process. Periodic closures and reopenings—driven by fluctuating zinc prices and ownership changes—have made fine Elmwood specimens increasingly coveted over time. Although the mine’s primary purpose was always zinc production, its unexpected yield of world-class mineral specimens has cemented Elmwood’s place as one of the most important and beloved mineral localities in North America.
About Fluorite
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.
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.
About Quartz
Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.
Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.
SPECIES
Fluorite & Quartz
LOCATION
Elmwood Mine, Carthage, Tennessee
SIZE
3.8 x 2.2"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#153328
