Bournonite

specimen number:
2133415

location:
Noche Buena Mine, Mazapil, Zacatecas, Mexico

description:
A loose metallic lustrous crystal grouping of bournonite. Some damage mostly confined to the back of the piece. Nice thumbnail for the species and locality.

The Noche Buena mine, located in the Mazapil Municipality of Zacatecas, Mexico, is a polymetallic underground operation known to mineralogists for producing sulfide specimens including jamesonite, boulangerite, and pyrite. Geologically, the deposit forms part of the regional silver-lead-zinc belt of the Mesa Central, featuring hydrothermal vein systems and replacement bodies hosted within Mesozoic sedimentary strata consisting of limestones and shales. These skarn and epithermal mineralizing events deposited thick sequences of base metal sulfides within structural fractures and fault zones. Organized mining operations at the site dates back to the mid-twentieth century, with notable specimen production occurring during the 1960s and 1970s. Industrial extraction at this specific underground unit continued until its eventual closure in 1992, leaving behind historical tailings that remain a subject of modern mineralogical and environmental assessment.

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