Enargite

specimen number:
2262097

location:
Butte, Silver Bow Co., Montana, USA

description:
Semi lustrous metallic crystals of enargite measuring to 0.5 cm in size on a crystallized sulfide matrix with quartz. Slight damage present as seen.

The Butte mining district, famously known as the "Richest Hill on Earth," is located in southwestern Montana and represents one of the most prolific copper-producing regions in history. Geologically, the deposit is a massive hydrothermal system hosted within the Boulder Batholith, characterized by a complex network of veins and disseminated ore bodies featuring distinct mineral zoning from a central copper-rich core to peripheral zinc and manganese zones. The locality is the world's premier source for enargite, a copper arsenic sulfide mineral that occurs there as large, metallic, steel-gray to black prismatic crystals and massive aggregates. Historically, mining and quarrying at Butte began with a gold rush in 1864, transitioned to silver in the 1870s, and exploded into large-scale copper production by the 1880s as electrical demand surged. Major underground operations, primarily managed by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, dominated the landscape until the 1950s when the transition to the Berkeley Pit open-pit mine occurred. While the Berkeley Pit ceased pumping in 1982, active mining continues at the Continental Pit through 2026, making Butte a site of continuous mineral extraction for over 160 years.

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