FLUORITE

This unusual Fluorite specimen comes right from the heart of France, from near the village of Buxières-les-Mines, Allier, in Auvergne. It is unusual in that it displays spheroidal 'balls' of Fluorite, but accompanying these are deeper purple octahedral crystals too. The individual 'balls' on this piece reach 7 mm in diameter and are pale lavender in colour, with the octahedral crystals darker purple and quite rounded due to fine-grained overgrowth. Although provenanced simply to the village/town, this style of Fluorite was found in the nearby Les Rocs quarry in the early years of the 21st century and is very distinctive. Very large miniature in size this is a nice display of this unusual form, with the Fluorite presented on one side of a triangular-shaped plate of rock matrix. Ex Arvid Pasto Collection.