One of the easier to identify Mount Gunson copper sulphides… If you have an ultraviolet light. Edit: Not copper sulphide! 🤦♂️ Just sulphide!
The sphalerite at Mount Gunson ranges from black metallic to dark brown resinous-looking, to pale tan crystals. Initially, I thought the latter was maybe siderite. But all of the sphalerite fluoresces orange. It doesn’t matter how dark or light it is. Very characteristic, and present on quite a few specimens.
Below: Sphalerite, Quartz, Cattle Grid Deposit, Mount Gunson Copper Mines, Pernatty Lagoon, South Australia. Width of view 9mm. Longwave Ultraviolet.
Below: Sphalerite, Quartz, Cattle Grid Deposit, Mount Gunson Copper Mines, Pernatty Lagoon, South Australia. Width of view 9mm.
Wow great to look at those photos side by side.. Thanks Steve. So is the typo that sphalerite is a zinc sulphide? And what is the mineral fluorescing blue on the left side? BTW my UV torches are almost in the mail! Hurrah.. thanks for your advice
David, I thought that too. But I'd say something like that anytime I need a nap...
Steve is any of the tan sphalerite large enought to cut or cab? And is there any cassiterite in Australia that gets light enough? Not a good crystal of course, maybe a damaged one...