SOLD Fluorite with Calcite, attr. Rosiclare Level, attr. Benzon Mining Company, Victory/Crystal Complex, Spar Mountain Area, Cave-in-Rock District Southern Illinois, Kalaskie Collection #42-46, Medium Cabinet 8.0 x 9.0 x 10.5 cm, $250. Online 4/4
NSMW12633
SOLD Zoned rich purple and light purple fluorite with light druse of calcite.Well developed cubic over-growths parallel to the main cubes. Matrix has a couple of unmodified galena cubes with slate gray sheen: note these as highly typical of the Spar Mountain area. The mining company provenance is unique in my experience. I am always skeptical of such definitive information so I communicated directly with Ms. Kalaskie for verbal confirmation and she corroborated the source direct to a mineral dealer in St. Louis. The specimen 'fits' the locality and mining company as noted by the purely cubic galena and rosy tint and size of fluorite crystals. Based on a Benzon Mining Company attribution the piece would have been mined ca. 1940s-1950s but was likely collected later from from old underground workings: company attribution likely determined by the 'after-hours miners' from mine maps. In excellent condition and lovely when backlit. Betty Kalaskie Collection #42-46. Entered into Ross C. Lillie database as RCL2644.