A large, richly colored sussexite mass in lean calcite-franklinite-willemite ore from Sterling Hill’s North Orebody. As its label indicates, this specimen was displayed in the Franklin and Sterling Hill “daylight” case that was part of the American Mineral Treasures Exhibition at the 2008 Tucson and Mineral Show. (The contents of the case were from many collections but were assembled through the efforts of the Franklin Mineral Museum and Sterling Hill Mining Museum.) Notable aspects include this piece’s size, the coloring of the sussexite along what appear to be healed joints (pinkish red along the joints and pinkish lavender elsewhere), and the presence in the sussexite of rounded pieces of lean ore that are rimmed with calcite and are in the process of hydrothermal alteration and replacement by sussexite. The ore matrix is visible along the left and right edges of the specimen, where the partial breakdown of original franklinite to form hematite has locally stained the ore red. The specimen is no. ERV-1911 in the collection of Earl R. Verbeek.
Identifier: SSX26a Locality: South limb of the North Orebody, Sterling mine, Ogdensburg Specimen size: 15 x 14 x 9 cm Photo credit: Earl R. Verbeek