Fujian Province

Curated by Maggie Liu · Updated:

China · Fujian
Large purple fluorite slab from Fujian China
Fujian Province, China — phantom-zoned fluorite specimens.

About Fujian Provinceextended article

Fujian — coastal fluorite and color-zoned classics

Fujian Province on China's southeast coast is best known among collectors for high-saturation green and purple cubic fluorite, often with sharp color zoning and well-developed phantoms. The province also produces calcite, quartz, and minor stibnite from its hydrothermal vein systems.

Geological setting

Fujian's fluorite deposits are hosted in faulted volcanic and volcaniclastic terrane of Late Mesozoic age, with later hydrothermal overprinting. The fluorite occurs in epithermal vein systems with low temperatures of formation — producing the sharp cubic habit and clear color preservation that Fujian material is known for.

What Fujian is known for

  • Green and color-zoned cubic fluorite
  • Purple-phantom fluorite with sharp zoning
  • Fluorite + quartz combination pieces
  • Smaller production of associated calcite

Collector value

Fujian fluorite trades at a slight discount to Hunan because of lower locality recognition abroad, but the best Fujian pieces compete on color saturation and crystal sharpness. Color-zoned and gem-clear specimens are the value drivers.

From our inventory

Browse Fujian specimens or learn more in our fluorite buying guide.

Where it is mined

Published resource reviews identify Fujian as one of China's main fluorite-resource provinces. The mineral is worked across the province — for example in the Yongchun area (including the Xia Yang workings) and the Jiangle district (the Changkou deposit) — within the wider Nanling fluorite belt that straddles the Fujian–Jiangxi border, one of the most important fluorite-producing regions in the country.

From Our Sources

Fujian fluorite comes to us through dealer contacts on China's southeast coast, which is how we get to choose pieces one at a time rather than buy a flat sight-unseen. What we look for is straightforward: cube edges that are sharp rather than bruised, colour zoning that reads cleanly when the piece is backlit, and matrix left as it was collected instead of trimmed flat.

Everything we sell is natural, untreated material. Each specimen is photographed as the exact piece you receive, with its species and locality on the label — and where a locality attribution is debated in the literature, we print the label we were given and say so.

Frequently asked questions

What makes Fujian fluorite different from Hunan fluorite?

Colour and habit. Fujian is best known for high-saturation green and purple cubes with sharp colour zoning and well-developed phantoms, formed in low-temperature epithermal veins in Late Mesozoic volcanic terrane. The Hunan classics — Yaogangxian in particular — formed in higher-temperature granite-hosted veins and are known for gem transparency and a wider colour range. Both are cubic fluorite; the growth conditions are what differ.

What is a phantom, and how do I see it?

A phantom is an earlier, smaller crystal outline preserved inside the finished crystal, recorded when growth paused and then resumed. On Fujian material the phantoms are often well developed and show as a ghosted cube floating inside the host cube. Backlight the specimen — a lamp behind it, not in front — and the internal outline appears. See our fluorite reference for the species basics.

What else comes out of Fujian besides fluorite?

The province's hydrothermal vein systems also produce calcite, quartz and minor stibnite. Fluorite is what Fujian is collected for, but associated species turn up on matrix and are part of what makes a combination piece interesting. You can browse our fluorite specimens to see what is currently available.

Where is Fujian Province?

Fujian Province is a mineral locality in Fujian, China. It lies at approximately 26.1000°N, 117.9000°E.

What minerals are found at Fujian Province?

Signature minerals from Fujian Province include Fluorite, Calcite, Garnet, Pyrite, Quartz. The locality lies in Fujian, China, and each mineral links to a full reference entry with formula, crystal system, and collector notes.

Specimens from Fujian Province

307 specimens

References and further reading

This locality on Wikidata.

Related Localities

Fujian Fluorite — Green & Purple Cubes · MyMineralBox