This dataset describes fluorite- and manganese-bearing samples collected and compiled by USGS Commodity Specialist, Ronald G. Worl during the 1970's. The dataset corresponds to a physical collection of fluorite- and manganese-bearing samples re-established under the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program. The collection includes samples that were used in the interpretation of results presented in Worl (1974), Worl and others (1973a), Worl and others (1973b), and Shawe and others (1976); however, these documents were of little use in re-establishing the fluorite collection, particularly sample locations. Instead, all information in this dataset was obtained from Ron Worl's field books, a STATPAC catalog titled “Fluorite Occurrences in the Western United States”, and Worl’s unpublished "Fluorspar of the Western United States" manuscript. Individual samples were assigned a new USGS sample number. Corresponding cabinet letters and drawer numbers help users easily locate physical samples in the re-organized collection. The dataset includes location (state and site-specific names such as mines, claim(s), prospects, and tailings), latitude and longitude, origin of coordinates, sample type, qualitative volume estimates for fluorite and manganese oxide in each sample, and mass of samples in kilograms and grams.
Samples in this collection are limited to the western United States and come from two general groups of Tertiary late-magmatic and hydrothermal fluorite-bearing deposits: (1) those associated with intrusive igneous rocks and (2) those not associated with intrusive igneous rocks. Each group contains a variety of deposit types ranging from metal deposits with minor fluorite gangue to fluorspar deposits with trace amounts of metals (Worl, 1974). The reader is referred to the references below for more information. References: Worl, R.G., 1974, Geology of fluorspar deposits of the western United States, In: Hutcheson, D.W., ed., A Symposium on the Geology of Fluorspar, Proceedings of the Ninth Forum on Geology of Industrial Minerals: Kentucky Geological Survey, Special Publication 22, p. 31–54.
Worl, R. G., Van Alstine, R. E., and Heyl, A. V., 1973a, Fluorite in the United States, exclusive of Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Resource Map MR-60. Worl, R. G., Van Alstine, R. E., and Shawe, D. R., 1973b, Fluorine, in Brobst, D. A, and Pratt, W. P., eds., Mineral resources of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 820, p. 223–235. Shawe, D.R., Van Alstine, R.E., Worl, R.G., Heyl, A.V., Trace, R.D., Parker, R.L., Griffitts, W.R., Sainsbury, C.L., and Cathcart, J.B., 1976, Geology and resources of fluorine in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 933, 110 p.