Gypsum

specimen number:
2292101

location:
Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico

description:
Attractive grouping of glassy gemmy colorless gypsum crystals from this classic locality. In good condition.

The Naica mining district, situated in the municipality of Saucillo within Chihuahua, Mexico, is a world-renowned carbonate replacement deposit famous for its lead-zinc-silver ores and massive selenite gypsum crystals. Geologically, the deposit consists of an intricate network of skarns, massive sulfide chimneys, and horizontal manto bodies hosted within heavily fractured Cretaceous limestones of the Aurora Formation. The mineralization was triggered by a deep-seated Tertiary felsic magma intrusion, which forced high-temperature, metal-rich hydrothermal fluids upward through regional faults to dissolve the carbonate host rocks and deposit primary sulfides, while late-stage, low-temperature thermal waters filled massive underground structural cavities to precipitate giant gypsum crystals. Although primitive mining by regional prospectors began following the initial discovery of silver veins in 1794, large-scale industrial underground operations commenced in 1900 under the Compania Minera de Naica. The complex passed to Industrias Penoles in the mid-twentieth century, keeping production highly active until a catastrophic sudden flooding event in late 2015 forced a total suspension of regular underground exploitation, though intermittent reclamation, surface processing, and exploration initiatives have persisted into the 2020s.

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