Galena with Calcite

specimen number:
1115632

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

description:

Lustrous cube-octahedral crystals of galena on matrix with a cleaved calcite.

The Sweetwater Mine, located near Ellington in Reynolds County, Missouri, is a prominent underground operation within the Southeast Missouri Lead District, commonly known as the Viburnum Trend. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within the Upper Cambrian Bonneterre Dolomite, a sedimentary rock formation representing ancient reef environments. The mineralization formed via Mississippi Valley-type processes, where metal-rich hydrothermal brines migrated through regional strata and deposited economic quantities of lead and zinc sulfides, primarily galena and sphalerite, alongside notable accessory minerals like siegenite, chalcopyrite, and world-class crystal specimens of calcite. Historically, commercial mining at the site began in 1968 under the Ozark Lead Company (a subsidiary of Kennecott Corporation), experiencing subsequent operational pauses and restarts under later corporate operators as part of the broader industrial history that established the district as a vital global source for lead and specialty mineral specimens.

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