A couple of years ago I bought this apatite from John Seibel at Tucson.  Tucson hosts the world's largest gem & mineral show each year starting in late January until the middle of February, if you count the Flagg Foundation mineral meet up and Quartzite the festivities start around January 6.  It is the pilgrimage, the Mecca for mineral, fossil and gem collectors and all of the associated fields of endeavor.

John Seibel told me that this location in Utah, near Cedar City, is still available to collect and that there are apatites just laying around on the ground.  He says what he has not found in all of his hunting is a lost location nearby which yielded some spectacular amethyst and apatite combo specimens.  Hopefully John S. is still out there hunting.  I guess I need to get back to Utah to dig around.

Apatite is one of my favorite minerals.  It occurs in a wide range of colors, blues, greens,pinks, yellows and some not so lovely shades of brown and red.  Because of its lovely colors and clarity it is commonly faceted for jewelry.  It is not particularly hard (5 on Mohs scale) so if you are going to use it in jewelry use it for earrings or pendants (above the waist jewelry).

We have field collected apatite in Ontario and Quebec.  If you are nearby an apatite fee collecting area give it a try as it is an easy mineral to collect and generally pretty, even in the less spectacular colors.  In the right mine or pit you could easily come away with a nice 3 or 4 inch crystal, the trick is taking it out in the matrix.

Here is an apatite from Cerro De Mercado Iron Mine, Durango, Mexico, a famous and productive location for yellow to yellowish green gemmy apatites. Tomorrow I will show you a very similar apatite from Utah.