Galena with Dolomite, Sphalerite, Chalcopyrite

specimen number:
2092262

location:
Picher Field, Tri-State District, Oklahoma-Kansas, USA

description:
Impressive large combination piece for this old mining district, non-lustrous crystals of galena measuring to 5.5 cm on edge are scattered across the top of a light pink crystallized dolomite matrix. Chalcopyrite and sphalerite are present as well. This is in good condition.

The Picher Field, situated across the border region of northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas, was the most productive zinc and lead mining district within the historic Tri-State district of the United States. Geologically, the deposit is a premier example of a Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) ore system, where low-temperature, metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids migrated through thick Mississippian-age marine carbonate rocks, specifically the Boone Formation. These fluids dissolved sections of the limestone and dolomitized the surrounding strata, forming highly specialized breccia zones and chert networks where massive, stratified replacement bodies of sphalerite and galena precipitated, often associated with chalcopyrite, marcasite, calcite, and pink dolomite. Historically, the formal discovery of rich ore bodies in 1913 triggered a massive mining boom, leading to the rapid establishment of the town of Picher and the development of hundreds of individual underground shaft mines and mill operations. Large-scale corporate industrial extraction peaked during World War I and World War II to supply critical metals for global military efforts, but production rapidly declined after the mid-1950s due to ore depletion and falling metal prices, leading to the permanent cessation of all commercial mining operations by 1970 and leaving behind severe environmental challenges that resulted in its designation as a major federal Superfund site.

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