Heulandite

specimen number:
2062401

location:
La Madera, Rio Arriba Co., New Mexico, USA

description:
Sparkling crystals of heulandite across the top of matrix. Collected in 2002, in good condition and a nice locality example for the species.

La Madera is a small historic community and mining area located within the Petaca Mining District of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. While the region saw extensive small-scale prospecting and sporadic historical mining operations for pegmatite minerals, mica, and tantalum-niobium-fluorite starting in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, specific opening and closing dates for individual small prospects are largely unrecorded, and the historic sites are now inactive within the Carson National Forest. Geologically, the area is characterized by complex Precambrian to Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks, such as the Ortega Quartzite and Petaca Schist, cut by mineralized pegmatites and veins. Locally, the surrounding hillsides and cavities feature secondary mineral assemblages including calcite geodes, quartz, fluorite, mordenite, and heulandite. Heulandite is a hydrated sodium calcium aluminum silicate mineral belonging to the zeolite group, typically forming as secondary crystals in cavity fillings and altered volcanic or vein environments.

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