Calcite with Sphalerite

specimen number:
8911236

location:
Elmwood complex, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA

description:
Bright lustrous crystals of sphalerite are covering completely and massive sphalerite matrix. Scattered richly across the top of this are glistening colorless crystals of calcite, some of the largest double terminated and measuring near 2.0 cm in length. Nice combination piece in good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection.

The Elmwood complex, comprising primarily of the Elmwood, Gordonsville, and Cumberland Mines, in Smith County, Tennessee, is situated within Paleozoic carbonate rock formations where mineralizing hydrothermal brines circulated through ancient, open solution cavities, faults, and breccia zones. Originally developed for industrial underground mining starting in the 1970s, the facility gained global renown among mineral collectors because miners recovered world-class crystal specimens from vugs and cavities intersected during operations. While the complex has experienced intermittent commercial closures and changes in corporate ownership over the decades, it remains a legendary locality celebrated for producing some of the finest aesthetic mineral crystals ever discovered.

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