Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
A beautiful fluorite octahedron from Huanggang, complete all around without any visible point of attachment. A bit of the back has been naturally etched away, making this a floater.
Most of the fluorites I have seen from this mine have surfaces that have been heavily eaten away by acid, meaning that they have to be oiled. This piece has not-- the surfaces are naturally lustrous.
Interestingly, it is the matrix specimens that always have the bad surfaces-- I can only imagine how harsh the environment must have been, as it is not unusual to to see them associated with heavily weathered ilvaite, hedenbergite, and (to a lesser extent) quartz. Fluorite obviously responds differently to the chemicals that attack the silicate minerals, but it is still interesting to note.
This is a great example of pink fluorite from this locality-- if you don't want one that has been oiled (which includes nearly all the matrix pieces), this is about as good as you are going to find.