Galena

specimen number:
2102323

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

description:
A grouping of lustrous cubic crystals of galena with minor attached white dolomite. In good condition with just slight micro-damage present. This was collected in the late 1990s or early 2000's. Crystallized completely all around with no real points of the attachment.

The Sweetwater mine, situated within the world-class Viburnum Trend lead district of Reynolds County, Missouri, United States, is a historic and highly celebrated underground mining operation renowned for producing magnificent, highly lustrous mineral specimens, most notably superb, sharply formed cubes and complex cuboctahedral crystals of galena. Geologically, this major deposit is classified as a classic Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) lead-zinc mineralization system, hosted primarily within the porous dolostones of the Cambrian-age Bonneterre Formation. During late Paleozoic tectonic movements, warm, metal-rich basinal brines migrated upward through regional fault systems, dissolving portions of the carbonate host rock and systematically depositing dense, massive sulfide ores along with spectacular, open-pocket crystals of galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and golden calcite within large solution collapse breccias and vugs. Historically, large-scale industrial development at the site began in the mid-twentieth century, with underground shaft and adit operations officially commencing production in 1974 under the Ozark Lead Company, a subsidiary of Kennecott Copper Corporation. The complex subsequently transitioned through various corporate hands, including Asarco and eventually the Doe Run Company, which continues to operate the underground facilities through 2026, making it one of the longest-running active producers of industrial lead in North America. Throughout these over fifty years of continuous commercial operations, the Sweetwater mine has consistently yielded exceptional, world-class galena specimens that remain highly coveted, universally recognized benchmarks of classic midwestern American mineralogy.

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