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Rogerley Mine Specimens For Sale |
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Rogerley Mine Specimens For Sale |
Page Updated July 3, 2010
The following is a small selection of specimens currently available for sale. I have chosen a selection of specimens that represents the major pockets we have encountered to date, including the most major pockets encountered to date. They are arranged by pocket along with a brief description of each pocket. The scale coin with all specimens is a British 2 Pence, 2.6 cm (1 inch) across, about the size of a US quarter. I have tried to get the color balance of these specimens as close to natural as possible, but fluorite is notoriously difficult to photograph properly. Color balance can also vary between different computer monitors. If anything, they will probably look even better in the flesh. They've promised me so.
The 2010 mining season is underway, and posted below is a selection of specimens we recovered during June of this year. These are primarily from the Rat Tail pocket, which we encountered at the end of the summer in 2009. Upon returning, we spent a week harvesting much of what remained in that pocket, and got a number of nice pieces. Work has also focused on the fluorite-rich zone which we discovered last summer just to the north of the Blue Bell and Jewel Box pockets. This area is close to a fault that has been following the main vein as we have pushed the tunnel northward, and unfortunately, movement on this fault seems to have damaged much of the fluorite in this area. The fluorite in this area, which we are calling the "crushed zone" is generally quite gemmy and deep colored, but because of the damage much of what we have found so far will end up in wholesale flats. A few nice and relatively damage-free specimens have been found, and will be gracing this page as well. Also posted below are a few of the better pieces that we have remaining from 2009, along with some from previous years.
Please contact us if there is something specific you are looking for. Before ordering, please see our terms and conditions on the "Ordering" page.
Specimens from 2010
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Specimen 10-005. A large mound of numerous sharp, lustrous, deep green fluorite crystals up to 4 cm on edge, covering a core of crystalline white quartz. Specimen is in very good condition and quite aesthetic. 15x8x6 cm overall size. Rat Tail Pocket, June 2010. Price: $1500.00 US |
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Specimen 10-008. A cluster of several sharp, lustrous, deep green fluorite crystals up to 3.5 cm on edge. All crystals appear to be untwinned and display a complex "stepped" pattern on the cube faces. Specimen is in excellent condition. 8x5x4 cm overall size. Rat Tail Pocket, June 2010. Price: $395.00 US Reserved |
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Specimen 10-009. A large, deep green, twinned fluorite crystal, 4.5 cm on edge, surrounded by several smaller fluorites. Very nice specimen in excellent condition. 9x6x6 cm overall size. Rat Tail Pocket, June 2010. Price: $650.00 US Reserved |
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Specimen 10-010. Two side-by-side twinned fluorite crystals, 2.5 cm each, surrounded by smaller fluorites on a bit of ironstone matrix. One fluorite is totally gemmy while the other has some cloudy patches. 7x4x3 cm overall size. A couple minor abrasions but otherwise a very nice specimen. Crushed Zone, June 2010. Price: $400.00 US Reserved |
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Specimen 10-014. A cluster of sharp, gemmy, highly lustrous, fluorite crystals with minor ironstone matrix. Dominating the specimen is a 2.5 cm twinned crystal diplaying well developed viscinal growth faces. 5x4x4 cm overall size. Crushed Zone, June 2010. Price: $350.00 US |
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Specimen 10-015. A transparent, lustrous, deep green fluorite crystal, 1.7 cm on edge, with several smaller fluorites on ironstone matrix. 5x4x2 cm overall size. Very nice miniature specimen. Crushed Zone, June 2010. Sold/Vendu/Verkauft |
The Blue Bell Pocket
During the 2008 summer collecting season the nature of the ground changed dramatically as we worked north and east from the Jewel Box. Where-as before we had a discrete horizontal seam of fluorite that would occasionally swell out and give some plates of white-centered crystals containg a few large, perfect twins, we now encountered a large brecciated zone that resembles a collapsed pocket. Discrete layers of fluorite are gone, but mixed in with the jumble of mud and rock are some plates of smaller, but perfectly lustrous and transparent deep green twins. Many show some chips from the pocket collapse, and many came out simply as crushed colorful bits that will end up in bags of our "aquarium gravel." The ones that have survived so far are really beautiful and remind me of the best we found in the West Cross Cut during 2002 and 2003. The area continued to produce during June 2009 and has yielded some very nice pieces. The pocket is named in honor of both our favorite after-hours hang-out in St. John's Chapel, and the fact that the daylight fluorescence is so strong that the fluorites turn a deep blue in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, the zone that produced the Jewel Box and Blue Bell pockets appears to have pinched out as work progressed during the 2009 collecting season. We can only hope there's more somewhere behind the next rock.
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Specimen 09-050. A large mound of ironstone covered with numerous sharp, lustrous, deep green fluorite twins up to 2.3 cm on edge. The though dark, most crystals are quite transparent with mirror luster. A few abrassions but overall a very nice specimen. 13x10x8 cm overall. Blue Bell Pocket, 2009. Sold/Vendu/Verkauft |
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Specimen 08-078. A cluster of sharp, deep green, gemmy fluorite twins up to 2.3 cm on edge, surrounded by smaller untwinned fluorites on ironstone matrix. The twinned crystals are perfectly transparent with mirror luster. 11x8x3 cm overall. Very good condition. Blue Bell Pocket, 2008. Price: $685.00 US |
The Jewel Box Pocket
Toward the end of the 2007 summer collecting season another pocket, known as "The Jewel Box" was encountered to the north of the West Cross Cut along the main tunnel. The pocket was fairly brecciated and many specimens showed some damage, but some pieces that have come out are of exceptional quality. In June of 2008 we reopened the mine for the summer and have so far recovered a limited number of very high quality specimens from this area. The pocket zone continues to be heavily broken and almost all specimens show at least minor abrassions. The transparency, luster, and size of the crystals so far recovered are, however, by far the best the mine has yet produced and are, perhaps, some of the best green fluorites from the region.
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Specimen 08-083. A large, well-formed, deep green penetration twined fluorite crystal, 3.5 cm on edge, perched on a mound of smaller fluorites, with a limestone core. Most fluorites have cloudy patches, but are very sharp and lustrous, with very little damage. 9x6x5 cm overall size. From the Jewel Box Pocket, June 2008. Excellent dayligh fluorescence. Price: $950.00 US |
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Specimen 07-075. A large plate emerald-green, twinned fluorite crystals. At the top is a large, opaque cryatal, 4.2 cm on edge. Surrounding are numerous gem twins of deep color and high luster. 15x9x7 cm overall size. Top quality specimen, no damage. From the Jewel Box Pocket, November 2007. Price: $3750.00 US |
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Specimen 08-020. A large, well-formed, deep green single penetration twined fluorite crystal, 5.0 cm across. The crystal has large transparent sections and well developed growth patterns on the cube faces. 5x4x3 cm overall size. From the Jewel Box Pocket, June 2008. Sold/Vendu/Verkauft |
West Cross-Cut
The West Cross-Cut was started as an exploratory tunnel westward from the main tunnel just opposite the Black Sheep Pocket in August 2001, and has since proven to be our most productive area in the mine. Some very good fluorite specimens were first found here toward the end of the 2001 mining season, including clusters of lustrous, gemmy, twinned, deep green fluorite crystals to 2.5 cm, associated with corroded galena octahedra, on an iron-rich limestone matrix.
A second drift was driven westward from the main tunnel approximately 10 meters north of the first West Cross Cut in July 2002. Excellent quality fluorite specimens were found almost immediately confirming the presence of metasomatic flats on the west side of the vein in addition to those previously discovered to the east. Excavations while collecting specimens joined the two West Cross Cut drifts in a loop during August, 2002. This area was worked again through the summer of 2003 and yielded some excellent specimens.
During 2004 a northward extension, known as the Corner Pocket produced some markedly different specimens, most of which had a partial overcoating of fine-grained white crystalline quartz. A number of fluorite-covered stalactites were found here - the first since our original workings in the Black Sheep Pocket.
In 2005 we opened up a productive zone on the south margin of the West Cross Cut, which we have named the Dodgy Bugger Pocket in recognition of the unstable tunnel roof in this area. Though this slowed us down by requiring constant timbering, we recovered some good material. Most of the specimens recovered in 2006 also came from this area. Many specimens from the Dodgy Bugger are an attractive combination of large, emerald-green fluorites and octahedral galena crystals set on a white crystalline quartz background.
The 2007 summer season began with collecting at the rear of the Dodgy Bugger area, but the nature of the pocket zone quickly changed from an open area with a bad roof into a narrow tube-like cavity that we call The Rat Hole. Being narrow and tight, we no longer had the roof support problems of the previous two seasons, but the area was rather constricted and a bit of a crawl through mud and puddles of standing water to reach the face. None the less, the area was incredibly productive and has given us some of the best quality specimens we have seen in years. The character of the specimens from this area was a bit from previous years, being mostly clusters of large untwinned crystals of good form and transparency and deep green color. Although most collecting was done elsewhere in the mine during 2008, we did manage to recover a few more specimens from the Rat Hole during the summer.
At the end of the 2007 season there was still fluorite showing at the back of the Rat Hole, but due to the very cramped working conditions we decided to drive a small tunnel parallel to the worked out portion of the pocket to intersect the back of it and give ourselves more room to work in. In August 2009 we finally completed this tunnel and during our final week at the mine we uncovered an extention of the Rat Hole, which we now call The Rat Tail Pocket. During four days of excavation the pocket gave us some very nice specimens, similar to those from the Rat Hole, but surprisingly, with much better luster. Below are a few examples from this new pocket.
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Specimen 09-030. A crust of white crystalline quartz partially covered with numerous emerald-green, lustrous, untwined fluorite crystals up to 2.8 cm on edge. 10x8x4 cm overall size. Wonderful contrast between the quartz and fluorite. We get few of these because the fluorite usually comes off the quartz after the specimen is collected. From the Rat Tail Pocket, August 2009. Sold/Vendu/Verkauft |
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Specimen 09-052. A circular mound of numerous deep green, lustrous, untwined fluorite crystals up to 2.5 cm on edge, formed over a core of white crystalline quartz. 11x10x5 cm overall size. Excellent condition, displays well from all angles. From the Rat Tail Pocket, August 2009. Sold/Vendu/Verkauft |
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Specimen 09-043. A mound of numerous deep green, lustrous, untwined fluorite crystals up to 2.2 cm on edge, covering a matrix of quartz and fluorite. One galena crystal perches on top. 8x7x5 cm overall size. Very good condition. From the Rat Tail Pocket, August 2009. Sold/Vendu/Verkauft |
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Specimen 09-044. A cluster of sharp, deep green untwinned fluorite crystals up to 2.5 cm on edge, overgrowing a core of crystalline quartz. Nice miniature in good condition. 5x4x3 cm overall size. Rat Tail Pocket, August 2009. Price: $165.00 US |
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Specimen 08-040. A mound of highly lustrous untwinned fluorite crystals up to 4 cm on edge, with minor quartz matrix on the back. The largest crystal displays both hopper-growth and viscinal faces on the cube. 9x6x3 cm overall size. From the Rat Hole area, West Cross Cut, summer 2008. Price: $350.00 US |
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Specimen 06-046. A plate of ironstone matrix covered by fluorite crystals. Dominating the face are two large, sharp, transparent penetration twins 2.1 and 1.8 cm on edge. 9x8x4 cm overall size. Dodgy Bugger area, West Cross Cut, June 2006. Price: $375.00 US |
Black Sheep Pocket
This pocket yielded the majority of specimens recovered during both 1999 and 2000, as well as a few during 2001. The pocket was worked eastward, away from the main tunnel during 1999, and westward from the head of the east tunnel during 2000. The two portions of the pocket were joined in August, 2000. Fluorite crystals are typically medium green, twinned, and up to 3 cm in size, often associated with white druzy quartz and crude octahedral galena crystals. Some fluorite specimens appear slightly etched and delustered. Matrix is a hard silicified limestone, which sometimes contains fossil corals. Specimens are usually quite “topographic” and numerous stalactite-like formations were found. Some very large plates were recovered with the help of a diamond chain saw from this pocket.
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Specimen 99-327.
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