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A classic piece from the Puttapa Mine in Australia, now closed. The only minerals we are pretty confident of are the willemite and calcite - there may be much more. The white mineral has been assayed to be willemite with a very high zinc content.
A relatively unknown and obscure zinc deposit in a remote area of the Australian Outback has recently become famous for producing dramatic fluorescent specimens of willemite mixed with several other minerals. These pieces exhibit bright fluorescence, most with 4+ colors, extreme phosphorescence and wild patterns of color.Ex. Albert Everitt Collection
They were nicknamed "Yooperlites" which is derived from the name “yooper”. A yooper is a nickname for the Upper Peninsula natives and these fluorescent stones quickly gained fame. After data was published on these fluorescent stones, it was discovered that sodalite is the actual true mineral that is fluorescing orange.
365nm UV light is often called "blacklight". Before the advent of longwave UV LEDs, blacklight fluorescent tubes, (the kinds used in hippie days to light up psychedelic posters) were the standard longwave UV light for our hobby. They were not very powerful but they did light a large area.
Enter 365nm UV LEDs
First, an animation showing the difference between the UV flashlight we recommend (365nm filtered UV flashlight) versus unfiltered 395nm UV flashlights we see many folks carrying around at shows. So. much. visible purple light. We selected a bunch of rocks as a demonstration. Took pictures of them under his flashlight without the filter and then with the filter.
