Franklin & Sterling Hill – March 26
The Franklin and Sterling Hill deposits are geologically related zinc-manganese deposits, collectively type locality to 69 mineral species and boasting a combined species count of 361 (at the time of this writing). There is a complete species list for these mines on the Franklin Mineral Museum web site. Mineralogist Pete Dunn (1942- ) of the Smithsonian Institution dedicated decades of research to these localities, which culminated in a five-volume magnum opus, available from Excalibur Mineral Company. The specimens below represent some of the diversity of these remarkable localities.
This gallery contains 21 specimens.
 #1053 Andradite after Phlogopite |
#1051 Barysilite |
#1036 Cahnite with Rhodonite |
#1040 Epidote-(Pb) aka Hancockite |
#1055 Epidote-(Pb) aka Hancockite |
#1037 Fluorapatite (arsenate bearing) |
#1043 Friedelite crystals |
#1050 Ganophyllite |
#1045 Graphite |
#1038 Kraisslite |
#1039 Kutnohorite |
#1046 Leucophoenicite |
#1042 Mooreite |
#1044 Norbergite |
#1052 Phlogopite |
#1041 Rhodochrosite |
#1049 Rhodonite |
#1047 Tephroite, Willemite |
#1056 Thomsonite-Ca |
#1048 Willemite |
#1054 Willemite (phosphorescent) |
