Table of Contents

• Wollastonite from the Gouverneur Talc Company #4 Quarry by Howie Green 1–3
• The Valentine Quarry Gallery by Howie Green 4–8
• Worldwide Prehnite Gallery by Howie Green 9–10
• Rose Road—The WSK and the PDM by Howie Green 11–23
• Bush Farm, Gouverneur, St. Lawrence County, New York by Howie Green 24–26
• The Bush Farm Gallery by Howie Green 27–34
• The Mysterious Lowville “Occurrence” by Howie Green 35–37
• The Lowville Gallery by Howie Green 37–43
• Dr. Christopher Emproto’s Lowville Gallery by Christopher Emproto 44–45
• Fluorescent Minerals from the Greely Area, Ontario, Canada by Frédéric Messier Leroux 46–50

Wollastonite from the Gouverneur Talc Company #4 Quarry

By Howie Green · pp. 1–3

Wollastonite from the Valentine Mine, also known as the Gouverneur Talc Company #4 Quarry, is the focus of this account of an active New York quarry and its fluorescent minerals. It outlines the wollastonite skarn’s geology, industrial importance, and mineral associations, including calcite and prehnite. The article also traces the changing understanding of the quarry’s fluorescent wollastonite, describes recent LED-lit specimens, and discusses likely activators of its emissions.

The Valentine Quarry Gallery

By Howie Green · pp. 4–8

Specimens from the Valentine Mine in Harrisville, New York, illustrate the mineral associations and fluorescent responses of the quarry’s wollastonite skarn. The gallery includes wollastonite, calcite, and prehnite, as well as blue calcitic marble from the host rock. A specimen study by Simone Conti uses fluorescence observations and Raman spectroscopy to distinguish wollastonite, calcite, prehnite, diopside, and an unidentified component in intersecting veins.

Worldwide Prehnite Gallery

By Howie Green · pp. 9–10

Fluorescent prehnite specimens from localities around the world demonstrate that the mineral’s familiar, often non-fluorescent appearance is not universal. Examples shown include material from Morocco, Tanzania, Franklin, New Jersey, and several Canadian localities. The gallery pairs prehnite with minerals such as calcite, wollastonite, and scapolite, and records the different ultraviolet responses visible in selected specimens.

Rose Road—The WSK and the PDM

By Howie Green · pp. 11–23

Rose Road in Pitcairn, New York, contains two distinct collecting areas: the long-known Wollastonite Skarn (WSK) and the Purple Diopside Mound (PDM), discovered in 2012. The account surveys their geology, collecting history, and mineral assemblages. The WSK is noted for fluorescent wollastonite, albite, calcite, and fluorapatite, while the PDM features scapolite, purple diopside, calcite, and corundum. Specimen examples and field observations document both localities.

Bush Farm, Gouverneur, St. Lawrence County, New York

By Howie Green · pp. 24–26

Bush Farm, a historic and still-productive mineral locality near Gouverneur, New York, is known for large brown tourmaline crystals and pockets in calc-silicate rock along Grenville Marble. The article introduces its collecting history and principal minerals, including fluor-uvite, tremolite, diopside, and calcite. It explains how geological setting and chemical analyses help distinguish tourmaline species, and notes the characteristic crystal forms and associations encountered by collectors.

The Bush Farm Gallery

By Howie Green · pp. 27–34

Specimens from Bush Farm and nearby St. Lawrence County localities show the variety of tourmaline-bearing and calc-silicate material available to collectors. The gallery features fluor-uvite with tremolite, diopside, and calcite, along with fluorapatite from Bush and nearby Hall Farm and tourmaline from Bower Powers Farm. Captions document specimen associations, collecting experiences, and differences in tourmaline composition, including the uvite–dravite series.

The Mysterious Lowville “Occurrence”

By Howie Green · pp. 35–37

The mineral occurrences around Lowville, Lewis County, New York, include more than one poorly documented source of calcite, quartz, fluorite, and associated minerals. Drawing on specimens from a private collection, museum material, published references, and expert consultations, the article weighs evidence for the Lowville Quartz Locality against older, possibly separate calcite–fluorite finds. It highlights unresolved locality questions and compares the quartz-bearing material with similar Beekmantown Group occurrences in Ontario.

The Lowville Gallery

By Howie Green · pp. 37–43

Specimens attributed to the Lowville Quartz Occurrence and other, incompletely documented Lowville finds illustrate the locality’s varied mineral associations. The gallery includes skeletal quartz, calcite, dolomite, marcasite, and fluorite, with hydrocarbon coatings and inclusions visible in several examples. Captions distinguish specimens linked to the quartz occurrence from material of uncertain origin, including fluorite and calcite reportedly collected in a one-time find in the late 1950s.

Dr. Christopher Emproto’s Lowville Gallery

By Christopher Emproto · pp. 44–45

A selection of Lowville specimens from Christopher Emproto’s collection shows the range of minerals and textures associated with the quartz occurrence and nearby gash veins. Examples include quartz and calcite, hydrocarbon-coated dolomite, rare green fluorite with calcite and sphalerite, and dickite with calcite and hydrocarbons. One unusually complex calcite specimen records successive growth over marcasite and hydrocarbon-bearing layers, with a later generation of pale-yellow prismatic crystals.

Fluorescent Minerals from the Greely Area, Ontario, Canada

By Frédéric Messier Leroux · pp. 46–50

Fluorescent responses in specimens from the Blair Farm and Grant Quarry occurrences near Greely, Ontario, extend the localities’ reputation beyond their well-known daylight minerals. The article describes calcite’s differing colors under long-, mid-, and shortwave ultraviolet light, alongside quartz, dolomite, and pyrobitumen. It also examines yellow fluorescent coatings and inclusions suspected to be hydrocarbons, and blue-to-white fluorescent inclusions in quartz, noting that these identifications remain unconfirmed without analytical testing.