Fluorite

Horní Slavkov is a mining town in the far mid-west of the Czech Republic, whose flag and coat of arms are dominated by mining symbols.  The polymetallic orefield has almost 100 recorded mineral species of which Fluorite is one.  This large miniature has a cluster of intergrown, blackberry-purple octahedral Fluorite crystals perched on top of a rough, conical mound of Limonite encrusted matrix.  Four individual octahedral Fluorites, each of about 1.5 cm on edge, are epitaxially intergrown to form a single, larger octahedral crystal, with four re-entrant gullies symmetrically distributed around the periphery.  From above, the crystal forms a near-perfect Maltese cross.  The Fluorite is translucent around its edges when back-lit and is coated with tiny, sub-mm platelets of what appears to be Calcite, but could be a naturally etched form of Quartz.  A lovely and unusual Fluorite from Horní Slavkov.