Baryte and Calcite Crystals - Puttapa, Australia

Contributed by: FMS Admin
Date: May 10th, 2026
Locality: Beltana Mine, Puttapa, Pastoral Unincorporated Area, South Australia, Australia (See on Mindat)
Size: 7.4 x 7.2 x 11.2 cm
Weight: 730 g

Description:
While not as colorful as the typical material from the Beltana Mine in Puttapa, South Australia, this specimen is definitely out of the ordinary. The two main fluorescent minerals in it are crystallized, unlike the more typical specimens consisting of a massive assemblage of calcite, willemite and sometimes others.

It consists mainly of calcite crystals, on which a golden baryte crystal sits. The baryte fluoresces very brightly under longwave, quite brightly under midwave and rather dimly under shortwave; the calcite is very bright under shortwave, not quite far behind calcite from the Franklin district in New Jersey. The baryte is also nicely phosphorescent. The specimen is at its best under SW and MW combined.

Some veining of the typical calcite-willemite assemblage is seen in the matrix.

Originally posted by Frédéric Messier Leroux on Nature's Rainbows in 2024.