Daylight Fluorescent Fluorite from the 2020 Milky Way Pocket, Diana Maria Mine, England
Contributed by: FMS Admin
minID: 2CR-2NR
Date: May 15th, 2026
Locality: Milky Way Pocket, Diana Maria Mine, Rogerley Quarry, Stanhope, County Durham, England, UK (See on Mindat)
Size: 4.6 x 4.6 x 8.3 cm
Description:
Shown here is a modest specimen from the Milky Way pocket in the Diana Maria Mine (Sutcliffe Vein), Rogerley Quarry, Stanhope, County Durham, England, a new discovery from 2020.
Material from this pocket is very different from the typical gemmy emerald-green, daylight fluorescent fluorites found in most pockets of both the Rogerley and Diana Maria mine in the Rogerley quarry. Its color under artificial white light is a much darker green that usual, but still very gemmy (a backlit picture of the specimen would be needed to show this); and apparently, the very dark blue daylight fluorescence is the best ever seen in any material from the Rogerley quarry; this information would need confirmation, but I can easily believe it.
The first picture shows the very dark blue daylight fluorescence of the specimen; its color under white LED light is shown in the second picture, and lastly, the specimen is shown fluorescing under 365 nm LW UV. As is usually the case with this relatively hard to photograph material, the LW fluorescence looks much brighter in person than in the picture.
As I mentioned above, while it is a pretty cute small cabinet specimen, this specimen is FAR from being among the best material from this find; I would advise looking at other pictures on the internet to get an idea of the actual quality of what came out of this pocket. Really stunning material.
Originally posted by Frédéric Messier Leroux on Nature's Rainbows in 2021.
Summary of luminescence responses:
Fluorite (Mindat) (RRUFF)
- Fluorescence under Longwave (365nm LED) UV light: Blue
- Fluorescence under Daylight: Blue