The Okorusu mine is a carbonatite deposit. The carbonatite orebody is an intrusive with the calcium carbonate minerals coming from magma, instead of sedimentary origins.
For mineral collectors the fluorite specimens with various colors and mostly cubic crystallography were the most important part of this property.
Satellite view of the Okorusu mine complex showing the different pits of ore extraction.
Aerial view of the Okorusu mine complex.
Peter Eysselein loading into the Land Rover, so we can inspect the mine for specimens.
Left to Right, Peter Eysselein and Roy Verburgt.
Peter Eysselein reviewing the mining operations.
Roy Verburgt chatting on his cell phone at the Okorusu mine.
During my time involved with the specimen recovery starting with Chris Johnston and ending with Peter Eysselein as the collectors and myself as the primary buyer from the company, which was managed by Mark Dawes and my liaison Roy Verburght there were five major producing areas that each had its own distinctive style.
“A” Pit final limits on the West wall.
Overview of “A” Pit.
“A” Pit final limits on the West wall.
A worker waiting on equipment at the “B” Satellite find.
Waiting on equipment at the “B” Satellite find.
Waiting on equipment at the “B” Satellite find.
Discussing the removal operation.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Hand digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Fluorite specimens in situ in the “B” Satellite.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
The major producing areas were “A” pit, “B” pit, “B Satellite”, “C” pit and “D” pit. “A” pit historically has had the all green cubes. “B” pit had a few yellow pieces and not much other that I saw. “B” Satellite had the strange lustrous cranberry and clear phantoms. “C” pit is where the cranberry and yellow phantoms came from in 2003, all were recovered within four to five meters of the surface and then subsequently mined out when the orebody was developed. Below the cranberry and yellow pieces, deeper in the “C” body, were the classic cranberry “Diamond” shaped phantom fluorites.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
A fluorite specimen from the “B” Satellite dig.
A fully prepped specimen from the "B" Satellite collecting.
Fluorite specimen from the “B” Satellite dig.
A fully prepped specimen from the "B" Satellite dig.
Fluorite specimen from the “B” Satellite dig.
Fluorite specimens from the “B” Satellite dig.
Digging fluorite specimens in “B” Satellite.
Mucking operations in the “B” Satellite.
“B” Pit drilling.
Drill rigs in the “C” Pit.
Drill rigs in the “C” Pit.
The truck parked at "B" pit.
The “Specimen Shed”.
Peter Eysselein in the Mineral Shed.
Loading specimens into the “Mineral Shed”.
Fluorite specimens in the mineral shed at the Okorusu property.
Fluorite specimens in the mineral shed at the Okorusu property.
Fluorite specimens in the mineral shed at the Okorusu property.
Peter Eysselein locking the overflow crystals away.
I would like to especially thank Mark Dawe; Managing Director and Roy Verburgt, Project Manager at the Okorusu Fluorspar Mine for a wonderful relationship over the years and the forethought concerning mineral specimen preservation for collectors everywhere! A special shout out also to the two collectors who collected the bulk of the specimens over the last decade under contract; Chris Johnston and Peter Eysselein and let’s not forget those late night midnight miners.
High grade specimens being inspected.
Peter Eysselein looking for specimen number 937!
A wonderful quartz and fluorite (Dice) specimen from the “D” Pit.
Uncleaned fluorite from the Okorusu mine.
A curious specimen from “B” Pit.
Alternate angle of the curious specimen from B Pit.
A prepped cranberry colored fluorite specimen from the "B" Pit.
Staging area for Peter Eysselein to do prep work to the crystals.
Uncleaned fluorite, in drums, from the Okorusu mine.
Fluorite crystals in situ at the Okorusu mine complex Namibia.
An example fluorite specimen from "A" Pit.
More fluorite crystals in situ at the Okorusu mine complex Namibia.
Another example of the types of fluorite specimens from the "A" Pit.
A worker poses with a Black Mamba killed in “C” Pit.
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