Gallery 2 - Fluorescent Minerals...
For the amateurs of fluorescent minerals we like to add that we have a Workgroup Fluorescence within the Mineralogy Club of Antwerp. If you would like to receive more information about this workgroup, please do not hesitate to contact Axel Emmermann.
All photographs © Axel Emmermann

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CALCITE, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil The specimen consists of 1 to 2 cm long crystals of dog-tooth calcite on an earthy matrix. The fluorescence activator is probably the classic manganese and lead combination.

GYPSUM, Saragossa, Spain A 5 cm high crystal that has the shape of a bishop's hat. The matrix is covered with small gypsum crystals. Both matrix and crystal fluoresce white under long wave UV. The vertical striation of the crystal stands out very clearly due to the fluorescence. The specimen also exhibits a strong green phosphorescence.

CALCITE and WILLEMITE, Franklin, New Jersey, USA Photograph taken under short wave UV. The combination calcite (red)-willemite (green) is probably the most abundant as well as the most popular association from the Franklin locality. Both minerals fluoresce very strong due to the presence of a few percents of manganese.

GYPSUM, Compiègne, Paris, France Photograph taken under long wave UV. This specimen has the shape of a "swallow's tail" that is so typical for this mineral. The activator of the orange fluorescence is unknown, possibly due to inclusions of organic material.

ADAMITE, Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Mexico Close up of small columnar crystals under short wave UV. The image is approximately 3.5 mm wide.

FLUOBORITE, Bodnar Quarry, Edison, New Jersey, USA Fluoborite fluoresces cream-white with a yellow undertone under SW UV. The blue color of the matrix is no fluorescence but rather some stray blue light that managed to pass the UV-transparent filter.

RUBY, Priler, Macedonia (former Yugoslavia) Photograph taken under long wave UV. This 'ruby' is pinkish and opaque in normal light and should therefore be regarded as corundum rather than ruby. The bright red fluorescence, on the other hand, reveals the presence of chromium (the activator) which is exactly the ingredient that turns corundum into ruby. The orange fluorescing spot is quite unusual for ruby (or corundum). The crystal was extracted from its calcite matrix by means of a strong acid (blue-white fluorescing remains of the matrix are still visible in the image).

CALCITE, Mont-sur-Marchienne, Henegouwen, Belgium Photograph under long wave UV. The crystal is about 12 mm high and fluoresces with a whitish tan color. The cause of the fluorescence is not documented. The rather weak fluorescence is amplified by the inner reflection of the light by the crystal faces. This causes the crystal to resemble a Chinese lantern. The indenting angle (at the left side of the crystal), a clear evidence of twinning, stands out prominently against the background light of the fluorescence itself. This back-lighting also enhances the visibility of every little pit or growth-line on the crystals surface.

CELESTITE, Toussit, Morocco Large, thick crystals that exhibit a very strong white fluorescence under long wave UV. So strong in fact, that they light the surrounding matrix sufficiently to make it visible on the photo. Activator unknown.