Andradite

specimen number:
2062413

location:
Apex Pit area, San Pedro Mine, Santa Fe Co., New Mexico, USA

description:
Lustrous sharp iridescent crystal of andradite 2.0 cm across in a tight open pocket within matrix. In great condition. Collected by Jerry Simmons.

The San Pedro Mine in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, is one of the oldest mining districts in the Southwest, with Spanish prospecting dating back to the late 1500s and recorded operations by non-Indigenous miners starting around 1839. While the broader district experienced various phases of active gold and copper production, intermittent operations, and closures spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, specific localized surface features like the Apex Pit patent claim were developed as part of the area's modern copper-gold-silver extraction efforts. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within a limestone-tactite skarn environment located in the San Pedro Mountains. Contact metamorphism replaced local limestone with marble and created extensive skarn assemblages containing copper sulfides like chalcopyrite, along with secondary alteration minerals, garnet, and remarkable crystal cavities lined with quartz and calcite.

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