Galena with Barite

specimen number:
2312009

location:
Huanzala Mine, Huallanca, Bolognesi, Ancash, Peru

description:
The top of this matrix is mostly covered with interestingly crystallized galena, these small elongated crystal groupings, with colorless lustrous bladed crystals of barite to 3.0 cm in size. This is in very good condition.

The Huanzala Mine, located in the Ancash Department of the Peruvian Andes, is a major underground polymetallic deposit primarily mined for zinc, lead, copper, and silver. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within steeply dipping Lower Cretaceous limestone beds (predominantly the Santa Formation) that have been intruded by Miocene-age porphyritic stocks and sills. The mineralization formed through a combination of contact metasomatism—producing skarn assemblages—and subsequent hydrothermal replacement processes linked to these intrusive events. Commercial development and systematic underground extraction began in the late 1960s, utilizing mechanized cut-and-fill methods. Beyond its industrial output, the mine is widely recognized among mineral collectors for producing high-quality specimens of sulfides and associated hydrothermal minerals, including fine pyrite, sphalerite, fluorite, and the rare type-locality mineral huanzalaite.

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