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LocalitiesNamakwa District Municipality, Northern Cape, South Africa

27th Jan 2020 17:47 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

The Finsch mine seems to have wrong coordinates.

28th Jan 2020 21:57 UTCDebbie Woolf Manager

Hi Uwe

I looked at this and from the co-ordinates link on the locality that opened into a new browser it seems correct according to where I landed on google maps.

Perhaps you could explain further in detail what you think the issue is.

29th Jan 2020 02:46 UTCBruce Cairncross Expert

Hi Uwe,

I tend to agree with Debbie that Finch mine co-rods are correct (I drove by the mine a while back).

Regards,

Bruce

29th Jan 2020 09:17 UTCUwe Kolitsch Manager

Thanks. That means that the mine is in ZF Mgcawu, not Namakwa. Will correct it.

EDIT: Typo.

30th Aug 2022 21:44 UTCDouglas Bank 🌟

I have a specimen from, supposedly, Namaqualand, R.S.A. It is honey colored fluorite on a milky white matrix that might be gypsum. It is unlike any fluorite images from the entire North Cape. It obviously fluoresces bright blue under long wave UV, but it also fluoresces a yellow white under short and mid wave UV. There are fluorite cubes penetrating into the matrix or even on the bottom of it.

Has anyone seen anything like this before, either in or out of this region? Is Namaqualand even a place, or is it always Namakwa?

31st Aug 2022 06:02 UTCBruce Cairncross Expert

Namaqualand isn't a place, its a geographic region in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The Namakwa District is one of five districts that make up the Northern Cape Province. So if your specimen label says Namaqualand, it could be from anywhere in the region. My suggestion is its from the "Orange River" area, a rather broad statement, but commonly used for the fluorite and quartz that comes from a wide geological belt that more or less parallels or is close to the Orange River. Its well known for a variety of fluorite in various forms and colours.

See https://www.mindat.org/gallery.php?frm_id=pager&cform_is_valid=1&min=&loc=31155&u=&potd=&pco=1&d=&showtype=1&phototype=0&checkall=0&loctxt=&keywords=fluorite&orderxby=0&submit_pager=Filter+Search

31st Aug 2022 14:51 UTCDouglas Bank 🌟

Bruce, thanks for your input. I was thinking it could be from up there, and of course, it could have. I just can't find a single image of any fluorite like it from South Africa or Namibia. I do see a few from the Riemvasmaak fluorite occurrences that vaguely look similar, but have a quartz crust and aren't as honey colored. Since I originally posted I noticed at the very middle bottom of the white light image there is a bit of green sticking out. The original fluorite appears to be lare green cubes, which were later covered by the honey colored fluorite - at least I think it is. The blue fluorescing honey colored stuff covers something that does not fluoresce, so I am pretty sure it is also fluorite, as are the clear crystals on the matrix. Normally I can do a quick pXRF test, but I currently do not have access to it.

2nd Sep 2022 23:48 UTCDouglas Bank 🌟

I just checked the specimen with pXRF. The white matrix is basically silicon and light elements, so most likely quartz. The brown crystals are about 50% light elements and 49% calcium, so probably fluorite. Then again, the yellow stuff that doesn't fluoresce is basically the same, with possibly more calcium than light elements, so probably also fluorite.

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