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The Weardale Giant - An exceptional Fluorite specimen

Last Updated: 4th Dec 2018

By Jolyon Ralph

An exceptional British fluorite specimen - UPDATED.



A world-class specimen of fluorite was unearthed last week from the Rogerley mine in County Durham, Northern England.

LATEST NEWS It was not possible to save the specimen as-is for a British museum for various reasons (lack of money was not the main reason), and other European museums have not yet confirmed intention to purchase, so the specimen will be returned to the US. The good news is that UK Mining Ventures are now planning to try to remove as much of the matrix as possible with a diamond saw so that the top, crystalline plate, can be rescued intact (as long as no hidden fractures disrupt this process). The aim is to exhibit this in Tucson in Feb 2013, where the theme is Fluorite. This of course gives much more time for any institution wanting to acquire the specimen to organize things.


UPDATE In the end the specimen was not saved and was purchased by a US dealer and then split into several smaller pieces for sale. The large central ridge of crystals was saved as a single high-quality specimen.

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Jolyon and Katya with the large fluorite specimen (Robert Brandstetter photo)


The Rogerley mine is worked commercially for fluorite specimens, but they have never found anything of this size and quality before. This piece, one that truly deserves the title of museum quality, is without doubt the finest fluorite specimen to have come out of Northern England for generations. It consists of a plate of gemmy green fluorite crystals exhibiting the classical strong daylight purple fluorescence that the Rogerley mine is famous for, with central ridge of larger crystals.

Although photographs do not do this piece justice, and it has to be seen to be believed, I have tried to document this as well as I can. The quality and size of this specimen conspire to make it a difficult challenge for mine operators, UK Mining Ventures, to deal with. By the middle of August the mine will close and the fluorite found this season will be shipped back to the US for preparation for sale.

This specimen is too large (around 300kg) and valuable to leave where it is, and it's also too large to send back to the US in a single piece. And, because of the high quality of the crystals on the specimen, it's highly likely the sum of the value of pieces of the specimen will be worth more than selling the specimen intact. And the proceeds of this specimen will help pay for the costs of operating the mine for the season - a very expensive operation.

Here's how the specimen was discovered and removed (photos courtesy of UK Mining Ventures):

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The pocket is discovered


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Further preparation shows the quality of what they have found


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Ian Jones helps prepare for the recovery of the specimen


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The specimen is recovered


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And loaded onto a mine train


And now, some photos that I took of the specimen.

Firstly, in the mine using camera flash - the classic strong green colour is evident:

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In artificial light underground


And when the specimen was moved into daylight, I took more photos:

Please note that the specimen has not yet been properly cleaned.

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The specimen in daylight


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Taking plenty of photos (Katya Ralph photo)


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Close-up of amazing crystals on the central ridge


The areas that looks like imperfections on some of the crystal faces may be droplets of water - I tried to clean some of the faces on the close-up photos to show the difference, but the specimen was washed down prior to photography.

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Close up of gemmy crystals


Finally, Katya took this interesting view with the fish-eye lens of the whole specimen.

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View with the fish-eye lens.




Hopefully this specimen will be purchased by or for a museum. Having it on display in a museum would help inspire visitors and show them that great minerals are not just things dug out in the UK's industrial past, but can still be found today. Getting younger people to understand the importance of minerals and mining to our modern world is not always easy, but the natural beauty of fine mineral specimens is a very good way to start.

Jolyon Ralph - www.mindat.org





Article has been viewed at least 57076 times.

Discuss this Article

26th Jul 2012 20:44 UTCHarjo Neutkens Manager

I'm crossing my fingers!

26th Jul 2012 20:51 UTCRoy Starkey 🌟 Expert

Hi Jolyon - Clearly a worthy cause, to which I am happy to lend my support. It would be helpful to have some feel of how realistic the fund-raising task is, because "times is 'ard" in the museum world, as you will know.

I think keeping the specimen intact (wherever it finishes up) should perhaps be the priority goal, since it is (presumably)the overall size and quality that renders it noteworthy. There are any number of fine smaller pieces of green Weardale fluorite.

If a letter of support from the Russell Society will be of assistance (once you know who you'd like it sent to), I'll be happy to oblige.

Best of luck with the quest.

Roy

26th Jul 2012 23:56 UTCJohn Magnasco Manager

What do you think of trying to crowdfund it on Kickstarter or similar site. You could fund the amount needed to save it with the "sale" of small samples from the mine. I can help with ideas on how to do this, but don't have the time to do it myself. Somebody web saavy with say Wordpress or something similar can build the content and you can be up and running quickly with a target funding amount. It can become pretty viral with the number of FB users associated in the mineral community.

27th Jul 2012 00:13 UTCColleen Thomson Expert

hi Jolyon - thank you first of all for documenting the extraction -it was something i had already enquired about and i believe, adds to the provenance of such a spectacular and noteworthy specimen. well done guys for getting it out in one piece - that took alot of skill! It would be very sad if, after their expertise and care it was then broken up.
I appreciate they have bills to pay too, of course....and a Rolls Royce in bits is still a Rolls Royce, right? makes me wince just thinking about it.
anything I can do to help just let me know - there are others out there who had already hilighted this cause even before the specimen was recovered.
Best of luck.

27th Jul 2012 08:04 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

I don't think a kickstarter campaign is practical given the timescales involved.

27th Jul 2012 08:30 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

Our aim at the moment is to raise awareness of the issue, and hopefully encourage someone to come along and rescue the rock. Crowdsourcing donations isn't really a practical option as I've mentioned before.

27th Jul 2012 09:42 UTCMark Willoughby Expert

Howdy All,

While there is little I can do from here in Australia (apart of help spread the word) to help directly to this situation, it would be a travesty to have such a specimen destroyed and sold in pieces. It really does belong in a museum, namely the British Museum of Natural History! Then it would be available for the world to view and admire. Here's hoping this is how it ends up.

Regards Mark.

27th Jul 2012 10:20 UTCTimothy Greenland

How I wish I could help in a concrete fashion, Jolyon. I am astounded by the your documentation of the recovery of the specimen, and wholeheartedly wish that it should remain whole, and preferably in a British museum it should be accessible to the public - perhaps a few of them might be pushed towards wonder at the natural world, and even a wish to learn more about it. If only...

Best of luck with the campaign

Tim

27th Jul 2012 10:47 UTCValere Berlage

Amazing speciment!
Any solution that will save it from being broken into pieces (or from being trimmed to death) is good!
In the BM, in UK, in Europe or anywhere!
In France, Total often sponsorises the acquisition of major speciments, may be in the UK, some local companies could do the same if all their budget is not burned in the games!
Good luck, If no museum has the budget, a private collector will!
Valère

27th Jul 2012 16:19 UTCJohn Magnasco Manager

Kickstarter would clearly have been a practical option and could easily provide funding of the specimen for donation to a museum as well as funding specimen recovery operations. Unless you were talking about millions in two weeks, the time frame would be practical. Helped raise $85K for a bakery oven in 6 days with one and over $100K for an electronic sports accessory in 2 weeks. Pebble raised over $1 million in 28 hours.

Nonetheless, glad to see that the urgency has subsided and that there appears to be some money moving behind the scenes.

It would be good to save this important specimen.

27th Jul 2012 16:46 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

If a museum wanted to use kickstarter to fund it, they could certainly try, but it is not our place (and would be a legal as well as a logistical nightmare) to try to do this ourselves.

27th Jul 2012 19:51 UTCJohn Magnasco Manager

Maybe a nightmare if Mindat was involved or if somehow it is illegal to use Kickstarter in the UK, but I wasn't suggesting that. If set up properly it would not be a legal or logistical nightmare. But one needs to know how to set it up properly. That is what I was offering to help with. It is not clear what you mean by "our place". It seemed like this was something that you were highlighting as a need outside of Mindat and were looking for ideas on how to save the specimen. But enough dismissals and debate. I'm happy to see that it is being saved quietly.

27th Jul 2012 23:24 UTCRalph S Bottrill 🌟 Manager

Fantastic specimen and a great job at documenting it, we wish you lots of luck keeping it intact and in a museum. Sadly we can rarely do such with Australian specimens.

27th Jul 2012 23:27 UTCSteve Stuart Expert

Maybe Mitt Romney can purchase it. For $5,000,000?

28th Jul 2012 08:14 UTCPascal Chollet Expert

I can't help by myself, but I hope a happy ending !

28th Jul 2012 22:44 UTCRob Woodside 🌟 Manager

Truly a Great piece and wonderful documentation. Thanks Jolyon!!!

I'm amazed at the daylight fluorescence, especially in the UK!!! Could the specimen be displayed in daylight without loosing this fluorescence? It is so wonderful that it should be kept in the dark if needs be.

31st Jul 2012 05:28 UTCJames Zigras

Jolyon you are talking about raising money etc but i dont see anywhere you mentioning exactly what the price is. If its reasonable maybe that can be done. When you fundraise you have to have a goal...so what is the goal?

1st Aug 2012 00:31 UTCAlan Goldstein Expert

One way to raise money is to raise awareness through national media outlets. Any superlative discovery (best of, largest, etc.) is eye-candy for the media. In truth, setting a minimum price (to pay for mine operations) is both reasonable and practical, but finding a museum that wants it and would be willing to do what it takes to preserve it as a "national treasure" is essential. There HAS to be a place to place it prominently on display. I saw the Mt. Antero aquamarine specimen and the Sweet Home Mine reconstructed pocket at the Denver Museum of Nature. There is precedent. I remember a successful effort in Australia to purchase an opalized Pleisosaur(?) so that it could remain in that country. Good luck to all involved!

1st Aug 2012 08:30 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

IMPORTANT

Please note this article has been updated - there has been a significant new development, the specimen will be significantly trimmed of matrix but essentially other than this transported as-is back to the US (assuming it does not split during the trimming process, which is always a danger). Then the plan is to display it at Tucson in 2013. Urgent plans for fundraising are now not needed, and museums and institutions interested in acquiring this piece can do so at a more reasonable pace.

1st Aug 2012 19:22 UTCBill Morgenstern Expert

Very good news and best of luck with your effort to preserve this extraordinary specimen. Thank you for the continued updates.

14th Aug 2012 21:42 UTCJesse Fisher Expert

Update on the specimen, now named "The Weardale Giant." We have successfully trimmed the matrix to the point that it can be reasonable transported. On Monday we lowered it down from the mine using a winch and have crated it for shipment back to California. We hope to have it on display at the TGMS show in Tucson next February. Photos of the recovery process can be seen on the UK Mining Ventures website. Cheers!

14th Sep 2012 18:45 UTCMarco Pistolesi (2)

beautiful !!!!!!!!
Marco Pistolesi
Piombino-Li-
Italy

The Weardale Giant - An exceptional Fluorite specimen

26th Jul 2012 20:19 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

09632850017056651984806.jpg
An exceptional British fluorite specimen - UPDATED.

A world-class specimen of fluorite was unearthed last week from the Rogerley mine in County Durham, Northern England.

LATEST NEWS It was not possible to save the specimen as-is for a British museum for various reasons (lack of money was not the main reason), and other European museums have not yet confirmed intention to purchase, so the specimen will be returned to the US. The good news is that UK Mining Ventures are now planning to ...

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