[Rockhounds] Terlingua calcite

[diente at prismnet.com]

Hi, Pete.

>From what I understand, the little 38 mine was where the terlingua calcite came from.  I have 
also heard that all of the dump was ground up for road base.

There is also some terlingua type calcite from Mexico that we called Boquillas calcite, which 
has the same type of fluorescence, but was prettier in 
daylight, with bright pink color zones in white areas.  Most of this was acid washed, and 
supposedly left out in the sun to enhance the pink color.

Here are some photos of the real terlingua calcite, and of the boquillas.  I'll look for the 
daylight photos of the boquillas.  I'll get around to posting this 
to mindat, when I can measure the specimens.

http://diente.smugmug.com/gallery/5363856_t24bH#328305635_m7T4n

As to the San Saba calcite, there is a quarry somewhere in the hill country area where this 
comes from.  A friend of mine is working on getting permission
for a field trip, but this has been a rare occurrence, as far as I know.  (I have only heard of 
one trip  years ago that was by selective invitation).  I'll see if I can 
get a more specific locality for you.  Supposedly this calcite has a very long 
phosphorescence.

There is also a locality near Llano, Tx that was on an a ranch owned by an Austin Gem and 
MIneral society member. We found a couple of locations on
the ranch that had the typical blue fl. response to sw U.V. Some also had yellow and orange 
fl. responses as well.  I think I can run down some pics
of these specimens, and post them to the above site, or take some photos myself, of the 
specimens I have.

These two areas were cleaned out of specimens by club members, and no more was 
found.......and the owner sold the ranch.

We also found a couple of small pieces of calcite with the blue response here in Austin 
during road construction at Howard Lane, but only with some small specks
of the blue.  Every other piece of calcite around Austin (that I have seen), just has the cream 
colored fl., if any at all.

Paul Bordovsky
Austin, TX

 

> Out of curiosity I just checked what's on Mindat.? A "plethora" of different mine names are listed for calcite from the Terlingua district, one of which is the Little 38 mine.? There are 8 photos posted?on Mindat of calcite from Terlingua, most of which are yellow-amber scalenohedral crystals from the Perry Pit, Mariposa mine (California Mountain mine).? Just one of the photos posted is of the blue-fluorescent calcite, and its caption doesn't give a specific location.
> 
> Pete
> 
> >Axel?
> > > Dear List,?
> > >?
> > > Here's the?comment that Earl Verbeek tried to post to the?
> > > List earlier today, but couldn't get recognized by the?
> > > Listserv.---Pete?
> > >?
> > >?
> > >?
> > >?
> > > I've had two people tell me that the source of the "real"?
> > > Terlingua calcite, the blue-fl. SW and pink-fl. LW material,?
> > > was the Little 38 mine (hope I got the name right), and ONLY?
> > > that one mine.? Both of them were there and collected the fl.?
> > > calcite from the dumps of this mine (one when some of the?
> > > dump material apparently was reprocessed as road aggregate),?
> > > so they have some firsthand knowledge.? Just passing it on FWIW.?
> > >?
> > > ??
> > >?
> > > A somewhat similar problem concerns the "Terlingua-type"?
> > > calcite from San Saba, Texas.? Is that San Saba the city, or?
> > > somewhere in San Saba County?? I've never seen the locality?
> > > given to any useful degree of specificity.? Anyone out there?
> > > know where this stuff comes from??