Durangite

specimen number:
1052882

location:
Barranca Mine, Coneto de Comonfort, Durango, Mexico

description:
A cork stoppered vial holding numerous smaller crystals and partial crystals of serandite. From the type locality for the species. The size provided is the size of the vial. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video and dates to the very early 20th century.

The Barranca Mine, located near Coneto de Comonfort in the state of Durango, Mexico, is a historic small-scale mining site celebrated globally as the type locality for the rare mineral durangite. Geologically, the deposit sits within volcanic terrain characterized by Tertiary-aged rhyolitic flows and associated high-temperature vapor-phase or pneumatolytic veins, where fluorine- and arsenic-rich fluids interacted during the final stages of magmatic crystallization. Mineralogically, the mine became famous for yielding the world-best crystals of durangite, a scarce sodium aluminum arsenate fluoride that typically forms striking, transparent to translucent, vibrant orange-red to deep red prismatic crystals. Historically, mining operations at the site were minor and sporadic, primarily driven by the extraction of tin, but old-time specimens recovered decades ago remain highly coveted centerpieces for advanced systematic mineral collections worldwide.

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