Galena

specimen number:
2063456

location:
Sweetwater Mine, Viburnum Trend, Reynolds Co., Missouri, USA

description:

Lustrous cube octahedral crystals of galena measuring to 1.5 cm in size across the top of matrix. In good condition. A light dusting of micro pyrite is present. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

The Sweetwater Mine, situated on the southern end of the Viburnum Trend in Reynolds County, Missouri, opened in the late 1960s as part of the expansion of the Southeast Missouri Lead District. Geologically, the deposit is a classic Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) ore body hosted within the porous platform carbonates of the Upper Cambrian Bonneterre Dolomite. Mineralization primarily consists of galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, accompanied by prominent gangue minerals such as spectacular scalenohedral calcite and pyrite. While several historic mines in the district have wound down operations over the decades, the Sweetwater Mine has remained an active and vital part of regional production under modern operators.

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