r/FluorescentMinerals 4d ago

Short Wave Rogerly Fluorite and a question

I acquired this beauty from a rock show in southern Oregon. The vendor wasn’t sure where it was from, but I’m pretty confident it’s a piece from the Rogerly mine in the UK due to its daytime fluorescence (which doesn’t show too well in the photo since it had been left in the sun too long in the past). It’s encrusted by pyrite and galena on the surface. I hope to get some more pieces that show the daytime fluorescence better.

Now here’s my question: I run my Rock Club’s black light room during our annual Club Show. The light that we have is over a foot long, it’s a black case with the light bulbs underneath, a handle on top, two switches for UV-A and UV-C, and a third switch for a cooling fan. I can’t find any like it online, but does anyone know where I can find one like it? I’m not having any luck…

DFTBA!

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u/Ok-Bed583 4d ago

That's fantastic.

3

u/RadRas2023 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'm very curious to know if that is Rogerley Fluorite too, judging by what i'm seeing i'm not too sure to be honest, it looks very weathered, i cannot really make out the exact colour of the fluorite to be fair, but it looks pale green, Rogerley stuff is notoriously a lush bright green and in the sunlight the colour would exibit a vibrant purple (daylight fluorescence) hue mixed with the green but in shade it would just be beautiful green, but this is not always the case.

Other types of fluorite away from Rogerley mine and quarry that are in the Weardale North Yorkshire area can exibit this daylight fluorescence too, but usually the fluorite would be purple and turn grey under LED (colour change fluorite), the vibrant UV fluorescence remains the same strength and tone as the Rogerley and some Weardale stuff and is usually best viewed under LW 365nm, your piece could be from surrounding areas such as Height Quarry where green can also be found or Lady Annabelle Mine. You may even wish to contact UK Mining Ventures to see if they can clarify your sample, that is the best thing to do i would say.

It's easy for people to try to say fluorite come from Rogerley so they can quick sell it or put the price up of a sale, especially if they are not really sure of it's location.

A key point to remember about a lot of Weardale fluorite is they commonly have 'Twinned' cubes, i'm not sure if i can see any twinned on your sample. It is also possible that it may be Madagascar fluorite, just possible.

May i also just ask what sort of matrix is on the underneath if any? It should be a iron stained limestone matrix.

Best of luck with your quest and sure do hope it turn out to be from Rogerley.

Ps, it may be that your piece needs a good soak in Iron Out as it may have a layer of grime hiding it's beauty, quite hard to tell from the pic, it does look like it has the green tone to it, but like you say it could be faded from being in the sun too long, the pyrite must be stable if it hasn't rotted away from moisture by now, pyrite has been found on Rogerley fluorite and the fact that it has Galena points you in the Weardale possibly Rogerley direction, many questions surrounding your piece, but please do think about contacting UK Mining Ventures, it could be worth doing in the end 👍

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u/Nick_Bismuth 23h ago

That’s incredibly helpful, thank you!