Calcite with Quartz

specimen number:
9892008

location:
Buick Mine, Viburnum Trend, Iron Co., Missouri, USA

description:
Pale yellow slightly translucent scalenohedral crystals of calcite measuring to 4.0 cm in size up on a crystallized quartz matrix. Very minimal cleaving present, all of the prominent crystals are in good condition. Neat combination piece for this mining district.

The Buick Mine, located in the Viburnum Trend of Iron County, Missouri, is a prominent underground base-metal mine operated as part of the Southeast Missouri Lead District. Geologically, the deposit is a sediment-hosted Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) orebody, where lead, zinc, and copper sulfides occur as open-space fillings, replacements, and disseminations within the Cambrian-aged Bonneterre Formation dolomite. Exploration drilling in the mid-1950s led to its discovery, and the mine officially opened along with its adjacent primary smelter complex in the late 1960s (circa 1966-1968). While the associated smelter transitioned into a recycling and resource recovery facility in 1987, the underground mine itself has continued intermittent or long-term regional production cycles into the modern era as part of the district's active operations.

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