BARYTE on FLUORITE with PYRITE

This really interesting Cave-in-Rock specimen from the Illinois - Kentucky Fluorspar District presents a fascinating association between Fluorite and Baryte. Between light and dark, dense and slightly less dense, bladed and cubic, etched and fresh. The boundary between the two species is sharp and yet they are tightly bonded. The Fluorite is classically purple in colour and translucent, but presents complex naturally etched, angular surfaces, rather than well-defined cubic faces. In some respects it is reminiscent of the 'ice-cream cone' etched Fluorite from this district, yet subtly different. Then, there is the Baryte, a mineral seen less often in collections of minerals from Cave-in-Rock, and yet showing here as fine, fan-like sprays of bladed crystals rising up from its contact with the Fluorite. This is a really usual combination piece and obviously caught the eye of Fluorite expert Arvid Pasto, whose collection it came from.