VERY Rare Locality SCHEELITE On QUARTZ - - Golden Gate Mine, Valley County, Idaho
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:42912019 |
I'm pleased to offer this specimen of Scheelite on Quartz from the Golden Gate mine, Yellow Pine district, Valley County, Idaho. The specimen measures 3.07 x 2.62 x 1.75 inches or 7.80 x 6.65 x 4.44cm and features films of fluorescent scheelite on quartz with iron/manganese oxides. This comes with an informal label and was collected by a friend of mine and was part of a large box of ore specimens recently received.
My friend has collected in hundreds of mines across th...e West with an emphasis on localities in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Washington. We communicate often and he knows that I am keen to acquire rich samples of ore specimens from especially obscure localities---most of the localities that he visits I've never heard of before. He told me about collecting in the Yellow Pine district and he knows that I love scheelite specimens and he kindly supplied a few specimens in my latest box. I have to admit that I was initially quite disappointed in the Golden Gate scheelites as they completely lack the heft of typical scheelite specimens. I feared that these would be exceptionally lean but was shocked when I placed my UV lamp over the pieces to find them quite rich in scheelite. It turns out that there are at least a few modes of occurrence for scheelite in the district and I found a great reference to tungsten mineralization and found the following:
"Scheelite occurs as....fine coatings on rock fracture surfaces, mixed with fine-grained quartz..." (...The Yellow Pine Mining District, Idaho by Cookro, Silberman and Berger)
There is quite a bit of scheelite present on the surfaces and can only be seen by its classic blue-white fluorescence under shortwave UV light. It is present on all surfaces and must occur as an exceedingly thin film on the not-so-apparent brecciated quartz matrix. Scheelite is very dense and its presence is generally betrayed by its fluorescence and its heft in the hand. The latter fact is not seen on this piece.
The Golden Gate mine is near the famous Yellow Pine mine which was worked for antimony, gold and tungsten and was the most important domestic source of tungsten during World War II. I had never heard of the mine before and scrambled to find more information about the mine online. Some sources list it only as an "occurrence" but others report that it was briefly worked for metals. In any case, this is no doubt an extremely rare locality piece that shows quite a bit of fluorescent scheelite on quartz. The locality page for this mine on mindat.org shows no photos of specimens and does not list scheelite as occurring at the mine. I will add a photo of this piece and add scheelite to the mineral list.
Please check my feedback and my other eBay items. All specimens are carefully wrapped, come with complete and accurate labels and are quickly shipped. As always, your complete satisfaction is unconditionally guaranteed and I even offer FREE return shipping on any item that fails to satisfy for any reason---you can't go wrong. I'm reminded of the firm pledge printed on the old Foote Mineral Company mineral catalogs from more than a century ago,
"Quality of specimens is assured as we permit return of specimens at our expense."
Thanks for looking!
I buy collections! Please contact me if you wish to sell your collection. I also pay a finder's fee to anyone that refers me to a collection eventually purchased!
My friend has collected in hundreds of mines across th...e West with an emphasis on localities in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Washington. We communicate often and he knows that I am keen to acquire rich samples of ore specimens from especially obscure localities---most of the localities that he visits I've never heard of before. He told me about collecting in the Yellow Pine district and he knows that I love scheelite specimens and he kindly supplied a few specimens in my latest box. I have to admit that I was initially quite disappointed in the Golden Gate scheelites as they completely lack the heft of typical scheelite specimens. I feared that these would be exceptionally lean but was shocked when I placed my UV lamp over the pieces to find them quite rich in scheelite. It turns out that there are at least a few modes of occurrence for scheelite in the district and I found a great reference to tungsten mineralization and found the following:
"Scheelite occurs as....fine coatings on rock fracture surfaces, mixed with fine-grained quartz..." (...The Yellow Pine Mining District, Idaho by Cookro, Silberman and Berger)
There is quite a bit of scheelite present on the surfaces and can only be seen by its classic blue-white fluorescence under shortwave UV light. It is present on all surfaces and must occur as an exceedingly thin film on the not-so-apparent brecciated quartz matrix. Scheelite is very dense and its presence is generally betrayed by its fluorescence and its heft in the hand. The latter fact is not seen on this piece.
The Golden Gate mine is near the famous Yellow Pine mine which was worked for antimony, gold and tungsten and was the most important domestic source of tungsten during World War II. I had never heard of the mine before and scrambled to find more information about the mine online. Some sources list it only as an "occurrence" but others report that it was briefly worked for metals. In any case, this is no doubt an extremely rare locality piece that shows quite a bit of fluorescent scheelite on quartz. The locality page for this mine on mindat.org shows no photos of specimens and does not list scheelite as occurring at the mine. I will add a photo of this piece and add scheelite to the mineral list.
Please check my feedback and my other eBay items. All specimens are carefully wrapped, come with complete and accurate labels and are quickly shipped. As always, your complete satisfaction is unconditionally guaranteed and I even offer FREE return shipping on any item that fails to satisfy for any reason---you can't go wrong. I'm reminded of the firm pledge printed on the old Foote Mineral Company mineral catalogs from more than a century ago,
"Quality of specimens is assured as we permit return of specimens at our expense."
Thanks for looking!
I buy collections! Please contact me if you wish to sell your collection. I also pay a finder's fee to anyone that refers me to a collection eventually purchased!
