Detailed information
Species
Fluorite
Dimensions
88 x 96 x 56
mm
Weight
451 g
Locality
Okorusu Mine Otjiwarongo District Namibia
Condition
No recorded repairs
This is not your 'typical' Okorusu mine Fluorite if there is such a thing. World-renowned for several very distinctive and charismatic habits and colours of Fluorite, none of them include a large, purple, octahedral crystal with complex stepped crystallographic surfaces like this one. It is not a complete crystal, but more like a pyramid, or half an octahedron, but it is so unusual that it draws attention. It's myriad of small cubic faces are alligned, reflecting light in tandem as it is rotated and its very dark purple colour is replaced by a brighter, paler purple line down the shoulders of the main pyramid. These crystals are essentially an overgrowth upon the much larger individual crystal beneath. There is a little damage to these smaller crystals in a few places and the base of the pyramid is a fracture surface through the very large crystal (it reaches 9.6 cm across). Internally, this large crystal is very dark purple with some bluish areas and is almost opaque, transmitting only the brightest of light. Ex Hettrich Collection.
