Orpiment with Barite

specimen number:
2072080

location:
Quiruvilca Mine, La Libertad, Peru

description:
Crystallized orpiment across the top of a matrix covered by colorless gemmy crystals of blocky barite. Very slight rubbing present to the orpiment crystals as seen and really is quite typical. Nice combination piece.

The Quiruvilca Mine is located in the Santiago de Chuco Province of the La Libertad Department in the northern Andes of Peru. Geologically, it represents a premier high-sulfidation epithermal deposit hosted within the Miocene volcanic rocks of the Calipuy Group. The mineralization consists of a dense network of over 100 distinct hydrothermal veins that formed as metal-rich fluids were driven through fractures by underlying magmatic activity. Historically, the mine has been a significant producer of silver, lead, zinc, and copper since the late 18th century, with large-scale industrial operations beginning in the early 1900s.

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