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Fakes & FraudsFake (irradiated) dark fluorites from "Bikov, Siberia"

26th Nov 2009 12:04 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

I was told by Mindat member Martin Gruell that http://www.mindat.org/photo-258909.html is one of typical fakes on the market since about 2002 (fabricated "by a Hungarian" ), now also sold on the web.

The specimen is actually from Yaogangxian, but there are also faked specimens from Xianghuapu/Xinghuapin.

Irradiation turns the fluorites blue to emerald-green, and the normal quartzes to smokey quartz.

An article by Robert Brandstetter on these fakes is planned for Lapis magazine.

28th Nov 2009 00:27 UTCAdam Kelly

Thanks,

I was just looking at one of those on E-bay.

Too bad, they are very aesthetic.

29th Nov 2009 10:34 UTCPeter Seroka

Hi Uwe

the Bikov-Fluorite story is an ongoing mystery. And ist getting strange, as those "Bikov-Fluorites", which you mention, are different from the "Bikov Fluorites", which I first saw in Munich in 2003 and then later being offered by a well known US-Dealer in the US. Those crystals were emerald-green cubes. None was blue. They came without matrix, no smoky quartz at all. The largest specimen at that time were approx 5 cm.

The "Bikov-Fluorites" which you mention, are completely different from what had been on the market in 2002/2003. They were not irridated quartz/fluorite specimen as yours and the color not even similar to those which I saw (and wrote about in my fluorite book).

Now mindat also shows a picture of a "Bikov-Fluorite", which has nothing to do with neither the ones, which were on the market in 2002/2003 nor the irradiated blue ones on quartz , which are offered right now and mentioned by you.

The mindat fluorite specimen is definitely from Xiang Hua Ling or Xiang Hua Pu in Hunan, China. This specimen came from the collection of the Durch fluorite collector Jan Buma, which had been purchased by a reputable Spanish dealer.

Fact is, that there are possibly uncountable localities named "Bikov" in Russia; thereof, as far as mining is concerned, one in the Ural mts. and one in the Dolinsk district on the Siberian island of Sakhalin. I was not able to find any (English language) reference to those deposits; but, as the earliest fluorites offered on the market in 2002 were said to be from the "Far East", it could be Bikov on Sakhalin - which, however, is a coal mine. But, as Sakhalin also has rich Pb, Zn, Ag, Fe, Cu and other metal ore occurrences, one should not exclude the possibility of Fluorite.

Last not least, its also strange, that not few of the actual blue E-Bay-"Bikov-Fluorites" are offered by one Eastern European company.

The original emerald green fluorites, which had a color, lustre and transparency like high-grade dioptase, haven' t been on the market since their sudden appearance in 2002/2003.

Peter

29th Nov 2009 18:08 UTCAdam Kelly

Thanks Peter, great info.

29th Nov 2009 19:55 UTCJesse Fisher Expert

Attached is a photo of a fluorite from the "Bikow Mine, Siberia." The largest crystal is 2.5 cm on edge, and the matrix appears to be largely fine grained fluorite of an earlier generation. I acquired the specimen from an American dealer at Munich in 2002. He had purchased it from a dealer from Budapest at the same show. Afterward, I made inquiries with several Russian collectors and mineralogists that I know and no one had ever heard of this locality, thus I concluded that it was likely irradiated Chinese material. It is attractive, however.

29th Nov 2009 23:44 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

Let's start irradiating the people who sell these specimens without disclosing their nature. I wonder if these dealers would turn green or blue or what?

30th Nov 2009 08:05 UTCDawid Godziewski

It recently introduced me to the sale of Fluorite in the network. Absolutely not know that they are fake - especially since the mindat have such a location and fluorite in the picture ! I've been cheated by the supplier ! I immediately withdrew from their sale. On the occasion I will add that they are not only blue, but also emerald green !

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