Under normal daylight, this is an unimpressive looking mottled rock containing grey, black, white, and reddish/brown minerals, from the Pine Creek Mine in the town of Scheelite, near Bishop, Inyo Co., California. It is a typical-looking ore specimen, containing scheelite, powellite, grossular garnet, chalcopyrite, and pyroxene. Under short wave UV however, the scheelite comes alive with bright white and blue/white fluorescence, with some regions of powellite showing a more yellowish response. Similar fluorescence is seen under mid wave UV, but the color is a more uniform off-white. This specimen is from the collection of noted dutch mineralogist Renaud Vochten, measures 75 x 75 x 63 mm, and weighs 616 grams.
The Pine Creek Mine dates back to 1918, and is a former W-Mo-Cu-Au-Ag-Bi mine located at an altitude of 11,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, about 21 miles northwest of the town of Bishop.
Mouse over the scrolling images for additional photo information.