A beautiful fluorescent calcite from the Viburnum Trend in southeastern Missouri. This large single crystal (~4 Inches long) on matrix is from the West Fork Mine, Reynolds Co., Missouri. The calcite only responds under mid wave UV and shows little to no fluorescence under either short or long wave UV.
The West Fork Mine is an operating lead-zinc mine near Centerville, Missouri located on the West Fork of the Black River. The mine produces about 46,000 tons of lead, 6,800 tons of zinc and 3,900 kilograms of silver per year.
As seen at left in the photograph above, the calcite shows a lovely pink/magenta fluorescent response under mid wave UV. Visible light image on the right. Interestingly, the calcite is not significantly fluorescent under either short or long wave UV.
Full view of the same specimen showing bright pink/magenta fluorescence under mid wave UV (302 nm). Pink fluorescence under mid wave UV occurs frequently in calcites from the various Viburnum Trend mines.
Visible light image of the same specimen. A single, large, pale golden calcite scalenohedron sits on a sparkling matrix of calcite druse-encrusted limestone. The size of this piece is 94 x 59 x 51 mm, and it weighs 182 grams.