Arsenopyrite

specimen number:
2102171

location:
Roxbury Iron Mine, Litchfield Co., Connecticut, USA

description:
Good reference example for the species from this old locality, crystallized arsenopyrite is present throughout this matrix.

The Roxbury Iron Mine, situated on Mine Hill in Roxbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, is a premier historical and geological site noted for its rare siderite and iron production. Geologically, the deposit consists of a massive vein of manganiferous siderite hosted within a Paleozoic-aged quartz-mica schist. This vein is unique in the United States for its high manganese content, which made the ore particularly suitable for the direct production of steel. Historically, the site saw its most intensive activity between 1865 and 1872, when the Shepaug Valley Railroad was built specifically to service the massive blast furnace and roasting ovens constructed by the Mine Hill Smelting and Refining Company. Although iron was first discovered there in the mid-1700s and worked sporadically for silver and lead, the 19th-century industrial complex remains the most significant era of operation. Today, the site is preserved as a state park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, serving as a classic locality for collectors of sharp siderite crystals, quartz, and associated sulfide minerals like pyrite and galena.

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