Willemite, Calcite, etc - Puttapa, Australia
Contributed by: FMS Admin
Date: May 11th, 2026
Locality: Beltana Mine, Puttapa, Pastoral Unincorporated Area, South Australia, Australia (See on Mindat)
Size: 9.2 x 5.2 x 16.3 cm
Weight: 1074 g
Description:
Very nice, large specimen from the Beltana Mine, Puttapa, Leigh Creek, North Flinders Ranges, Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
One of my favorite Puttapa specimens; I really like this one because it reacts better under midwave and longwave than most Puttapa material I have seen, and, of course, the shortwave response is fantastic. I also like how much "action" is shown in that piece; the typical banded pattern of the willemite was quite heavily disturbed when the calcite was injected; in some spots the bands are shattered and now "floating" in the calcite.
Originally posted by Frédéric Messier Leroux on Nature's Rainbows in 2024.
Summary of luminescence responses:
Calcite (Mindat) (RRUFF)
- Fluorescence under Shortwave (254nm Lamp/Mercury) UV light: Red
- Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Red
- Afterglow after exposure to Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Red
- Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Yellow
- Fluorescence under Midwave (305nm LED) UV light: Yellow
- Fluorescence under Shortwave (254nm Lamp/Mercury) UV light: Green
- Fluorescence under Shortwave (254nm Lamp/Mercury) UV light: Blue
- Afterglow after exposure to Shortwave (254nm Lamp/Mercury) UV light: Green
- Afterglow after exposure to Midwave (305nm LED) UV light: Yellow
- Afterglow after exposure to Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Yellow