Ludlamite

specimen number:
9273043

location:
Level 13, San Antonio Mine, Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico

description:

Attractive lustrous green crystals of ludlamite across the top of matrix. In super condition. An excellent example for the species and locality. The back of the matrix is mostly coated with siderite.

The San Antonio mine, situated within the East Camp of the historic Santa Eulalia mining district in the Aquiles Serdan Municipality of Chihuahua, Mexico, is a major underground mining operation renowned for producing base metals, silver, and distinct mineral specimens of pyrrhotite, fluorite, smithsonite, and ludlamite. Geologically, this deposit lies within the ENE-trending San Antonio Graben and is classified as an intrusion-cored lead-zinc-silver skarn system with peripheral massive sulfide bodies. Hydrothermal mineralization occurred during the Oligocene epoch, approximately 26.6 million years ago, when fine-grained felsite dikes intruded into Lower Cretaceous sedimentary carbonate formations, specifically the fossiliferous limestones of the Lagrima and Benigno Formations, triggering intense metasomatic alteration and sulfide replacement. Historically, while the broader Santa Eulalia district saw initial Spanish exploration starting in 1591 and major silver production beginning in 1703, the deep skarn deposits of the San Antonio mine were intensively developed during the twentieth century, particularly after 1925 when operations shifted from shallow oxide ores to massive deep sulfides. The mine produced millions of tons of lead, zinc, and silver ore, along with all of the district's tin and vanadium, operating continuously under corporate entities like Grupo Mexico until a catastrophic flood in the late twentieth century prompted the suspension of large-scale extraction.

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