Argyrodite

specimen number:
2262194

location:
Colquechaca, Chayanta, Potosi, Bolivia

description:
A very rich specimen of almost pure massive metallic argyrodite. The specimen comes with a previous data card that notes that this had been analyzed at the University of Michigan. Quite choice for the species. The data card gives an original acquisition date in 1962.

The Colquechaca mining district, situated in the Chayanta Province of the Potosi Department, Bolivia, is a legendary silver-tin camp celebrated as the type locality for the rare silver germanium sulfide mineral argyrodite. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within the Colquechaca dome complex, where a late Miocene dacitic volcanic plug intruded Silurian sedimentary strata, creating a complex network of high-grade hydrothermal veins. Within these epithermal veins, argyrodite occurs as metallic, iron-black to dark steel-gray radial aggregates, botryoidal crusts, or rare dodecahedral crystals, typically associated with pyrargyrite, native silver, sphalerite, and cassiterite. Historically, mining and underground quarrying in the district began during the pre-Inca era, was heavily exploited by Spanish colonizers in the late 1500s, and experienced a major resurgence in the late 19th century following the 1885 discovery of the rich San Bartolome vein, where argyrodite was first identified by Clemens Winkler. Large-scale corporate operations for silver and tin continued through the mid-20th century before shifting to cooperative mining systems that remain actively engaged in small-scale extraction through 2026.

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