Selenite (Specimen #300018)

Mineral(s): Selenite 

Location: Red River Floodway, Winnipeg, Winnipeg Metro Region, Manitoba, Canada 

Size: 11.0 X 10.5 X 6.0 cm / (7.1 cm in diameter) 

Description: A very LARGE, well-formed gypsum specimen from this well-known Manitoba locale collected many years ago. The unique formation is due to two generations of crystal growth. The first growth formed near-spherical rosettes of stout intergrown selenite crystals. The second generation, the one that made them famous, grew in large golden crystals with a unique twinning shape that resembled a duck’s bill. These “duckbill” selenites are famous the world over and are found nowhere else in the world. Eight (8) beautiful, transparent and golden-clear, lustrous, fish-tail twinned gypsum crystals protrude from a ball of smaller gypsum crystals. The largest blade is 2.1 x 4.1 x 1.7 cm with. This floater piece is in very good condition, with only minor bruising and a bit of trivial edge wear. Ghostly UV white fluorescence with a greenish phosphorescence/"afterglow" upon exposure to longwave UV light presents a different perspective on these unusual floater specimens. The Red River Floodway has become famous for the extremely unusual selenite specimens that were discovered during excavations. Classic and excellent Red River Floodway gypsums like this came out in the 1980s and early 1990s from the buried clay beds.