Pink Fluorite on Green Quartz (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

From this impressive skarn tin / iron mine in northern China near the Mongolian border, here we have a rarely seen matrix example of the now famous and highly sought after pink octahedral Fluorites. This attractive specimen hosts several sharp, well-formed, gemmy, fine pink color crystals measuring up to 1.1 cm which are sitting on Quartz crystals that are heavily included with what is most likely Hedenbergite (some analysis has shown that certain piece of "Hedenbergite" turned out to be Amphibole species). Upon close inspection it looks like every Fluorite is undamaged, though there may be some superficial imperfections that can't be seen with the naked eye. With that said, one rarely encounters matrix specimens of this material, let alone multile ISOLATED crystals on matrix like this. Pink is arguably the most sought after shade of Fluorite, and to have a specimen like this from this remote mine in China is exceedingly hard to find. Valued at $2,500. Ex Dr. Steven Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=671&page=1 ) or on Wikipedia.