UV Lights and Fluorescent Minerals - a fun side hobby to metal detecting !

[KingTotsalot]

Continuing with specimens given KT by Steve Bonney at the 5th Annual CUSMS gathering!

The first specimen is calcite from Kentucky Hwy 421 roadcuts at Big Hill, Madison County, Kentucky.
The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm, displaying a nice yellow color by the calcite.

The second specimen is Meta-Autunite from the Havey Quarry, Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine. The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm, displaying a bright green color typical of Uranium-bearing minerals!

The third and final specimen is Cerussite from the Hickory Cane Mine, Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky and was collected by Steve Bonney. The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm, displaying a distinctive orange color.

Several more of these minerals to photograph to finish up what Steve so kindly gave His Majesty! Enjoy the photos!

 

[KingTotsalot]

The last of Steve Bonney’s gifts and another specimen from Jim Stoops!

The first specimen consists of Meta-Autunite on feldspar from the Ray Mica Mine, Burnsville, Yancey County, North Carolina. It is essentially invisible in the first picture taken in natural light. But it has a nice green glow in the second picture, taken in LW 365nm. Typical green of a Uranium-bearing mineral. It is fluorescent in SW 254nm but a bit weaker, so no picture was taken.

The second specimen consists of tan vuggy syenite from the Granite Mountain Quarry #1, Pulaski County, AR. The first image shows the rock and its texture in natural light. The second picture shows the specimen in SW 254nm. The orthoclase displays a typical, tho bright red, and displays the tabular texture so common in this tan rock.

Just imagine if KT had a giant short wave flood light that He could illuminate the quarry with! This rock type is common in some areas of the quarry! Oh well, daydreams of a fluorescent mineral collector! This specimen is from Jim Stoops, thanks Jim!

 

[KingTotsalot]

More specimens from Jim Stoops collecting efforts!

These specimens came from the freebie tables at the CUSMS gathering earlier this month.

The first specimen (#5, ha ha) is Chalcedony from the Aga Mine, Silver Lake Mining District, San Bernadino County, California. KT wrote the number on the specimen, but if I decide later, a bit of acetone on a Q-tip will remove it! Anyway, somehow He did not cover up any of the chalcedony, so no problem! The first picture is in natural light and the second is in SW 254nm. Typical green from traces of Uranium in the mineral.

The second specimen came from a shoe box of samples collected by Jim and placed on the freebie table! It is an infilling of white to honey colored calcite in a cavity in the tan syenite from GMQ#1, Pulaski Co., AR. The first picture is in natural light, the second is in LW 365nm. KT does not know what the tiny blue green speckles are. The third picture is in SW 254nm, with the calcite displaying pale orange, and a few of the host rock orthoclase crystals showing red. Not a lot of blue green speckles in this image so they are NOT U-based. Hmmmm.

Anyway, enjoy the photos, many more to come in the next couple of weeks!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Here are a couple of examples of the passing of the torch, so to say!

At the 5th Annual CUSMS gathering, Jim Stoops brought a number of specimens that had been in John Watley’s collection for the giveaway tables. KT dove into them because there are a variety of minerals in cavities from the Girard Chert in Burke Co., Georgia. With a closer examination of the labels, I discovered that Don Reems had collected many of them as there were his older labels with the specimens.

So here are 2 of them that are fluorescent! Just think, the original collector, a second collector, then passing through the third collector's hands….to me! His Majesty personally thinks this is so much better than donating them to a Museum, to never be seen again! And of course, these specimens are not of great scientific value as are specimens from a Type Locality or the Type Specimen.

The first specimen is of Gypsum in a cavity of the Girard Chert, collected by Don Reems around 2010-11, from River Road, near Girard, Burke County, Georgia. The first picture is in natural light and the second picture is in LW 365nm.

The second specimen consists of platy crystals of barite, again collected by Don Reems in 1990, from the south end of Stony Bluff on River Road, Burke Co., Georgia. The first picture is in natural light, the second in SW 254nm, and the third image in LW 365nm.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

This specimen was purchased from eBay, and upon its arrival today, when unwrapped it was broken into two pieces. First let His Majesty say, this specimen was purchased from a very reputable eBay dealer, who has not only quickly refunded the price of the piece, but also KT’s postage!

The Aragonite specimen arrived broken in half, but now KT has two T/Ns instead of one miniature. The Aragonite apparently has traces of late Uranium mineralization deposited on it. It is from the Toughnut Mine, AKA 4 different names in Mindat.org and on the label, Tombstone, Tombstone World, then through Juan Gonzales, a private mineral collector, then to Stuart Herring, the eBay dealer who sold it to me. So this specimen has been around for awhile. Not much to look at until you see it fluorescing!

The first picture shows the 2 pieces in natural light, and the second in SW 254nm. Very nice green! Since KT wound up with two pieces, naturally He mounted it with mineral tack in two perky boxes. So it will be one catalog entry in the Royal spreadsheet listing twp specimens in the notes. Proving that when you get lemons, you make lemonade if you can! HA HA

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

This specimen was purchased from eBay, and upon its arrival today, when unwrapped it was broken into two pieces. First let His Majesty say, this specimen was purchased from a very reputable eBay dealer, who has not only quickly refunded the price of the piece, but also KT’s postage!

The Aragonite specimen arrived broken in half, but now KT has two T/Ns instead of one miniature. The Aragonite apparently has traces of late Uranium mineralization deposited on it. It is from the Toughnut Mine, AKA 4 different names in Mindat.org and on the label, Tombstone, Tombstone World, then through Juan Gonzales, a private mineral collector, then to Stuart Herring, the eBay dealer who sold it to me. So this specimen has been around for awhile. Not much to look at until you see it fluorescing!

The first picture shows the 2 pieces in natural light, and the second in SW 254nm. Very nice green! Since KT wound up with two pieces, naturally He mounted it with mineral tack in two perky boxes. So it will be one catalog entry in the Royal spreadsheet listing twp specimens in the notes. Proving that when you get lemons, you make lemonade if you can! HA HA

Enjoy the pictures!

That is Tombstone Mining District, not Tombstone World! Stupid spell checker!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two specimens that arrived by mail yesterday!

The first of these is Fluorite from the Rogerly Mine, Weardale District, Wear Valley, County Durham, England. This was most difficult to find because the label said Frosterley, Cumbria, England. No such beastie in Mindat.org, so KT looked it up on Wikipedia, and found the town, and in the article, there was a paragraph about the Rogerly Mine being operated for awhile for mineral specimens, particularly green fluorite. However, this specimen is a bit unusual in that it is very lightly colored, and certainly not a distinctive green like so many specimens marketed from that site. And His Majesty found out that a collecting group of investors calling themselves Cumbria Mining, had actively worked the quarry for fluorite. I am satisfied my label is more accurate than that given by the dealer. Anyway, the first picture is in natural light, the second in LW 365nm, and the third picture is in SW 254nm. Response to even a weak LW lamp is so strong as to cause the camera (the Royal cell phone) to wash out the picture somewhat.

The second specimen is Elpidite from the well known Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. The first picture is in natural light, the second is in LW 365nm (no matter what HIs Majesty does, He cannot get rid of those pesky fluorescent ubiquitous cotton threads!). Likely the color response is due to traces of Uranium salts in small quantities.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Here is something worth contemplating……

This specimen consists of both blue and white Sodalite mixed in with tan Rhodochrosite from the Poudrette Quarry, Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. The first picture is in natural light, the second is in LW 365nm. Note the orange fluorescent areas are the white sodalite. The third picture is in SW 254nm, and the blue sodalite is fluorescing a nice red color, whereas the white sodalite has no response! Of course, the Rhodochrosite has no fluorescent response to either wavelength.

The blue sodalite from Magnet Cove, Arkansas, USA has no response to either Long or Short wave UV and neither do the specimens in my collection from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two more specimens from Jim Stoops that were part of John Whatley’s collection.

The first specimen consists of prismatic micro barite in a Girard Chert cavity from the River Road, near Girard, Burke Co., GA. The first picture is in natural light, the second is in LW 365nm, and the third picture is in SW 254nm. The LW response to the eye has a slight pinkish caste to it which does not show up well in the picture, but the SW response is a strong bluish white, with a moderate phosphorescence.

The second specimen has micro cacoxenite, ~ 0.7 mm (3 spheres) perched on drusy quartz with two colorless blebs of Hyaline opal (AN), one at 10 o’clock and the other at 2 o’clock. These are well visible as the bright white patches in the second picture, in LW 365nm. The cacoxenite shows up as ~1 mm honey spheres with brown centers in the first image, and of course are black in picture 2, as they have no response to UV light.

Many years ago the Coon Creek Association visited a site in Georgia where the Girard Chert was exposed in a road bed and ditch. Meredith York and KT collected several 100 pounds of this material, hoping to find some mineralized cavities. Unfortunately, the chert we collected contained no cavities, and KT wound up selling the rock to several different flint knappers, as it was good for their purposes!

Enjoy the pictures! They now will be part of KT's Royal Fluorescent Mineral Collection!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two specimens from the 5th CUSMS gathering, off the freebie tables.


Meredith York, a long time personal friend of KT's, had wanted to attend this meeting, but when his plans fell through, he sent His Majesty a selection of micromount specimens that he wanted put on the freebie tables. Mostly consisting of titanite, analcime, and pectolite micros on syenite from the Holiday Inn Airport quarry, Pulaski County, AR. This material was collected during a CCA gathering in the fall of 1984, according to his label. In that material was a rather large specimen consisting of late calcite on syenite. The first picture is in natural light and the second in LW 365nm. KT is happy to have this piece because the quarry was abandoned back in 1984 and is now completely filled with water!

The second specimen came from the freebie tables and is a T/N, labeled white crust...hydrozincite? KT thinks it is hydrozincite and it rests on some matrix with fluorescent willemite when viewed from the side. It is from the Buckwheat Dump, Franklin, Sussex Co., NJ. The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm. You can see a bit of green from the willemite on the side of the specimen.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

These 2 specimens are stretching the limits of what KT can do with the Royal cell phone camera, but He wanted you to see them anyway.

The first specimen is a very small piece of a geode from Hall’s Gap, Lincoln Co., KY displaying a tiny mass of calcite. Natural light in the first picture, LW 365nm in the second picture, and SW 254nm in the 3rd picture. Slightly less reactive in the SW when compared to the LW unit, but still the same basic white.

The second picture is of a small cavity in the Girard Chert. This specimen was collected by Don Reems in 05/14/2014 and was in John Watley’s collection, before Jim Stoops brought it to the 5th CUSMS gathering. It was labeled “weird opal (?)”, but when KT examined it at 35X with the Royal microscope, He can see a distinct hexagonal prismatic form with a trigonal termination. Since opal is not crystalline, His Majesty thinketh this is likely Strontianite. Anyway, that is what it is now labelled...Strontianite (?), on Opal-An, West side of River Road, Girard, Burke County, GA. The first picture is in natural light, the second is in LW 365nm, and the third picture is in SW 254nm. The fluorescence is a strong white compared to the bluish white of the Opal lining the cavity.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two more Girard specimens!

The first specimen is Hematite after one of the iron phosphates, perhaps Cacoxenite, with Opal-An in a Girard Chert cavity from the River Road, near Girard, Burke Co., GA. Collected by Jim Stoops in April of 2018. The first picture is in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm.

The second specimen is Meta-Autunite in a tiny cavity in the Girard Chert, S. off River Road, Girard, Burke Co., GA. Collected by Don Reems in early 1991, from John Watley’s collection, via Jim Stoops. The first picture is in natural light and it takes 35X or greater to see the tiny flakes of this mineral. The second image is in LW 365nm and the flakes, tho small, are a brilliant yellow green!

My Royal thanks to Jim Stoops for sharing these specimens at the 5th Annual CUSMS gathering! Enjoy the photos!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two more specimens of Hyaline (Opal-An) from the Girard Chert!

KT knows, you are thinking, why more?? It is simply because His Majesty could not turn down Jim Stoops offer of parts of John Watley’s collection! KT never got to visit John and see this material before, although Jim brought 5-gallon buckets of the Girard Chert to a couple of Henry Barwood's Symposia at Troy State a few years back, and KT took some and broke it down back at the Castle and got nothing. So His Majesty admits He had great gusto going through this already processed and mostly identified material at the latest CUSMS gathering! KT now does have some of this material for trading….always a good option.

This sample consists of 2 specimens photographed together as they were in one paper box when KT discovered them. Hyaline (Opal-An) from the River Road, near Girard, Burke Co., Georgia. They could have been parts of the same cavity…..there is one picture in natural light and the second is in LW 365nm. KT really finds this interesting for Opal as the Girard material has apparently little U content, since it fluoresces a nice bright white, not green like so much Hyaline that I occurs elsewhere. This material was collected by Don Reems in 2011, went into John Watley’s Collection, and then came to the gathering via Jim Stoops! Thanks again Jim for getting this material out to collectors, since John passed away.

Enjoy the pictures! Getting nearer the end of the fluorescent goodies from the freebie tables, but not quite there yet.

 

[KingTotsalot]

Two specimens today in the Royal mailbox, both from the fantastic fluorescent deposits of Sussex Co., NJ !

The first specimen consists of calcite and willemite, from a fault zone (geologists call the texture mylonized). KT had a specimen of this type of mineralization years ago given to His Majesty by the Museum Director Hauck on a visit. But when the mineral collection sold that piece went with it and KT had been looking for another one ever since! The first picture is in natural light and the second is in SW 254nm. One can see the stretching of the grains that occurred in the high pressure environment. The willemite displays green and the calcite displays reddish orange.

The second specimen is of Rhodonite (NF) with intergrown calcite, willemite, and hardystonite from the Franklin Mine, Franklin, Sussex Co., NJ. This specimen came with a Franklin Mineral Museum label. The first picture is in natural light, and the pink color is due to the rhodonite. The second picture is in SW 254nm, the orange being calcite, green being willemite, and the blue the hardystonite. KT likes the fine granular texture of this specimen!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[stetam]

Amazing what they look like under fluorescence

Steve

 

[TheFrood]

I have a super powerful uv flashlight that I bought to flash around the ground to find florescent rocks when I walk around at night... But it unfortunately also acts as the absolute best most amazing flying nocturnal insect attracting device that I have ever had the misfortune to own...

 

[KingTotsalot]

Amazing what they look like under fluorescence

Steve

Some look a lot more interesting than others, Steve, and KT has to admit He likes these two specimens a LOT!
Thanks for your comment!

 

[KingTotsalot]

I have a super powerful uv flashlight that I bought to flash around the ground to find florescent rocks when I walk around at night... But it unfortunately also acts as the absolute best most amazing flying nocturnal insect attracting device that I have ever had the misfortune to own...

Ha ha. Yes, TheFroud, the lights in bug zappers are also basic LW UV emitters…just to get their attention so they will come to it! KT has a cheap one of them in the Royal Bathroom and it does a good job of controlling the tiny flying critters. Empty it once a month into the sink to see how effective it is, rarely less than 20 gnats, etc., and sometimes over 50!

 

[KingTotsalot]

Another specimen of fluorescent minerals from the Poudrette Quarry, Canada!
This one consists of Elpidite microcrystals and calcite from the Poudrette Quarry, Mont. St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. This sample was sent down to the 6th Annual CUSMS gathering by Karl Shaffer. The first picture is in natural light and the second in SW 254. The Elpidite displays green and the Calcite is red. Tho a micromount, there is enough elpidite on the hand sample to show nicely in an overall low magnification image!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[KingTotsalot]

I have a super powerful uv flashlight that I bought to flash around the ground to find florescent rocks when I walk around at night... But it unfortunately also acts as the absolute best most amazing flying nocturnal insect attracting device that I have ever had the misfortune to own...

HA HA, did you ever see the Disney cartoon movie....Bugs! Some bugs scream DON'T LOOK AT THE LIGHT, while others stare into it and fly straight into a bug zapper! LOL