Fluorite on Candle Quartz

Fluorite is one of the most variable of all crystalline minerals, occurring in shades of blue, green, purple, red and many other colors corresponding to their physical makeup and conditions when the mineral was formed. The name fluorite comes from its use as a flux, or chemical cleaning agent, in iron smelting and other metallurgy. Pure fluorite is clear, but most specimens have vivid color due to various impurities and are often fluorescent. With a dazzling array of colors and crystal structures, fluorite specimens have been prized since ancient times and are now among the most popular minerals in the collecting world. Fluorite has long been used as a gemstone and is increasingly popular in the market.

Colored fluorite clusters atop candle quartz bases are some of the most distinctive mineral specimens to originate from the mines of Inner Mongolia. Found in a variety of shapes and colors, this piece consists of beautifully colored cluster of purple octohedral fluorite on a thick base of candle quartz - so named for the appearance of wax dripping down a candle down the crystal face . Fluorite crystals are well shaped, have a high degree of clarity and cover the majority of the quartz surface.