|
|
|
|
|
|
Sparring over Barite... Determining America's Best!
By Dana Slaughter
Editor's note: I really trimmed this wonderful essay down to make it fit in our Newsletter. If you find this interesting, Talk to Dana and he can give you a great deal more information on this topic!
There are thousands of barite localities in the United States. Few produce notable specimens or deserve to be considered among America's best barite localities, but some American localities are definitely "World Class".
A discussion of "bests" must first establish criteria for eligibility. Color and richness of color is the most important factor in the equation. Crystal habit and size matter as well. The beauty of associated minerals adds immeasurably to any specimen. Lastly, there is that intangible, hard-to-define way that specimens from certain mines or sites just "hit you" as a collector...we'll just call it personal preference. All things considered, this barite lover will nominate Elk Creek, South Dakota as America's Best Barite Locality.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
specimens sporting gemmy crystals are always in high demand.
The collecting area northeast of Stoneham, Weld County, Colorado has been known for decades, and is justly famous for the blue barite crystals found in the Chadron Formation. Veins of barite occur in clay and the lenticular pockets produce doubly terminated single crystals and groups to over a foot across. Collecting in the past was done by hand, but more recent efforts (notably by Collector's Edge of Golden, CO) have used machinery to strip away overburden. Thick "forests" of densely packed barite crystals have been found and delicate groups of lustrous jackstraw clusters have been brought to market. The finest specimens have associated calcite and sport sky blue crystals in loosely jumbled clusters. For my money, only the Elk Creek barites are better.
In third place is the Meikle mine north of Carlin, Elko County, Nevada. This mine exploits complex breccias that host microscopic gold disseminated in pyrite. For the collector the true bounty is the enormous (up to about 8 inches) golden barite crystals found in cavities along the footwall. The best examples are nearly flawless (some substantial faceted collector stones have been cut) and exhibit tremendous luster. Many of the specimens are in great condition due to the fact that a professional mineral collecting team recovered them.
The following is a list of other barite locations within the USA:
In Arizona, golden to nearly black crystals were found in the Magma mine near Superior, and are considered AZ classics. David Shannon also made a notable barite find at the Welden mine in Pima County, collecting pastel pink "footballs" to about 6 inches in length.
In California, clusters of clear to tannish bladed crystals collected from the cliffs at Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County have been popular for many years.
In Colorado there are a number of fine localities. The Eagle mine at Gilman produced gemmy yellow crystal clusters, as did the Sherman and Black Cloud mines at Leadville. The Sherman mine pieces are associated with siderite and the Black Cloud specimens often display pronounced phan
|
|
|
|
|
|
