Fluorapatite

This impressive and fairly large fluorapatite crystal comes from the well-known Yates Mine in Otter Lake, Quebec. The locality was historically recognized for producing phlogopite, fluorite, uranium minerals, and these outstanding fluorapatite specimens. It's has a good termination, highly lustrous, and exhibits a textbook hexagonal form. It is partially translucent, has variegated green and mottled brown hues with a patch of purple fluorite and white calcite near the centre. The crystal is nearly complete, missing its bottom half and perhaps the very tip, but this minimally affects the overall high quality of this larger specimen. The Yates Mine is a significant historical locality, and well-formed fluorapatite specimens like this are increasingly hard to come accross. For more information, see the Mineralogical Record article on the locale (Vol. 12, No. 6, 1981).