FLUORITE

ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

Interlinked floater group of deep pink fluorite octahedra, with fibrous inclusions of green actinolite inside. While Huanggang briefly provided collectors with a more accessible alternative to the premium-priced alpine pink fluorites, production of such quality specimens has essentially ceased. Whether or not we see more of these specimens come out in the future, this one is nice for its attractive form, lack of points of attachment, and the subtle touch added by the inclusions in the crystals.

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Huanggang is a skarn-type iron-tin deposit formed during Yanshanian magmatism around 136–138 Ma, when evolved syenogranite intruded Permian andesitic country rock and drove high-temperature, high-salinity hydrothermal fluids through calcareous horizons - fluorite crystallized as a proximal skarn mineral concentrated in the upper mineralization stages as the fluids cooled. Pink coloration in fluorite is generally attributed to irradiation-induced color centers, though trace rare earth element substitution is also frequently implicated; the specific mechanism at Huanggang has not been formally resolved. Crystals habitually form sharp octahedra, sometimes intergrown in floater clusters and frequently enclosing hair-like byssolite inclusions that create a silky interior character. The No. 6 mine began producing pink material around 2011 in early modest quantities, but the market-significant find was the August 2019 "Red Pocket," which yielded octahedra ranging into deep raspberry-red - the most saturated coloration documented from the deposit. Matrix is almost universally absent due to the fragile calcite and byssolite groundmass crumbling during extraction, making any well-preserved matrix piece exceptional. Supply from the 2019 event has progressively thinned, and nothing comparable has emerged since.