Vote for your favorite mineral in #MinCup26! - Sphalerite vs. Anorthite Both zinc ore Sphalerite and calcium plagioclase feldspar Anorthite have perfect cleavage that will split cleanly if you hit them with a hammer, but only one can claim a larger split of your votes!
The first significant occurrence of aragonite in the Sterling mine occurred in large pockets in erose ore adjacent to the "mud zone" in the 1040 and 1080 stopes, between the 430' and 500' levels (witnessed by C. Lemanski, Jr. - 1965). The pockets were large enough for a person to et in, but not very deep. Miners collected what they could on the shifts that encountered the pockets and destroyed what was left so that the cross-shift (evening shift) could not collec any of the best material. This is why there are many busted crystal specimens best only for UV display.
Habit:
Long-prismatic crystals forming coatings of sprays on erose ore matrix (1965).
Colour:
Colorless, grayish tinted.
Luminescent properties:
Dull greenish to blue-white (SW) + strong whitish phosphorescnece.
Sterling Mine, Sterling Hill, Ogdensburg, Sussex County, New Jersey, USA