Franklinite or Magnatite? with fluorescent willemite

fuss

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I bought both of these with the understanding that they were Franklinite but I am not quite sure if they are not magnatite instead. First set of images are from a specimen I bought from a fellow in N.J who said it was fluorescent Franklinite..well I know that the fluorescent part is Willemite so am not certain about the Franklinite part.

willemite and franklinite3.jpg

willemite and franklinite2.jpg

willemite and franklinite.jpg

Next one came from the fluorescent section of a local rock shop without a label other than I was told it is from NJ. I am not sure what is fluorescing bright blue but I think the green is Willemite. Do the crystals look more like Magnatite?

franklinite45b.jpg

franklinite45a.jpg

franklinite45.jpg

magnatite or franklinite crystals.jpg

Thx
 

ToddsPoint

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Beautiful rocks. Our lake is now down 3'. Two more feet to go and I'll be out there with my UV light. Lake froze, then they dropped it so sheets of ice laying on the beaches that need to melt. Hurry up and wait! Gary
 

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smokeythecat

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I have a fairly large collection of these and have dug at Franklin, NJ many, many times. It is indeed Franklinite. It LOOKS a lot like magnetite and is generally in the same class, however there is some zinc in Franklinite, hence the name for that "new" mineral. Magnetite from there is exceptionally rare.
 

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3cylbill

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Looks real to me I worked in the sterling 50 years ago , that's the sister mine in ogdensburg a couple miles away...
 

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stdenis_jd

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The blue is probably calcite. Franklinite/Willemite is usually associated with either feldspar or calcite although the calcite usually fluoresces bright red/orange. Blue is not at all uncommon for calcite though. And I agree with the above, it's certainly franklinite which should be octahedral if you can see it closely enough and the crystals are euhedral
 

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smokeythecat

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Also, willemite was one of the primary ores of the zinc at both Franklin and Ogdensburg. The blue white fluorescense is probably hydrozincite, a coating, which is very common there. Except on the day you want to find some...
 

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fuss

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I hear you Gary, I was out at the lake until almost the last week of January collecting things that fluoresce, but now its a frozen mess. I will start a new thread shortly that shows some of my winter finds.



Beautiful rocks. Our lake is now down 3'. Two more feet to go and I'll be out there with my UV light. Lake froze, then they dropped it so sheets of ice laying on the beaches that need to melt. Hurry up and wait! Gary
 

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