POLISHED FLUORESCENT FREEFORM. ...

Description

POLISHED FLUORESCENT FREEFORM
Sterling Hill Mine, Ogdensburg, New Jersey, USA
The Sterling Hill mine in the Bucolic Hills of New Jersey is an old silver mine now closed, but famous for having produced some of the finest fluorescent minerals to be found anywhere in the world. By day or tungsten light, this unprepossessing-looking rock is mostly colored a dull gray with red-brown patches and black accents; under the black light of short wave ultraviolet rays, however, it bursts into vibrant and fiery life in eye-popping shades of green and red, testament to the fluorescing presence of willemite and calcite. Willemite is a form of zinc silicate, and the deposits in the Sterling Hill Mine and nearby Franklin Furnace are regarded as the finest in the world. This good-sized specimen measures 6½ x 6½ x 3¾ inches.

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