Pyrite

specimen number:
1052582

location:
Quiruvilca Mine, La Libertad, Peru

description:
A lustrous large mostly complete octahedral crystal of pyrite. In good condition.

The Quiruvilca mining district, situated at high altitude within the Santiago de Chuco Province of La Libertad, Peru, is a world-class historic locality celebrated for producing spectacular polymetallic mineral specimens, including exceptional crystals of enargite, pyrite, sphalerite, and magnificent translucent red rhodochrosite. Geologically, this prolific deposit is a classic epithermal vein system hosted within the Miocene-age Calipuy volcanic suite, which consists of thick sequences of andesitic and dacitic lavas and tuffs. Intense hydrothermal activity associated with late-stage magmatism forced metal-rich, sulfur-bearing fluids through an intricate network of more than one hundred distinct structural fractures and faults, depositing rich sulfide and sulfosalt ores along with superb secondary pocket minerals where highly lustrous enargite blades and perfect pyrite cubes crystallized within open vugs. Historically, large-scale organized underground mining at Quiruvilca began in the late eighteenth century, escalating dramatically in the early twentieth century when the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) acquired the property in 1924, developing it into one of Peru's premier producers of copper, lead, zinc, and silver. Underground shaft and adit operations ran continuously under various corporate entities, including Pan American Silver from 1995 until 2012, when the complex was sold to Southern Peaks Mining, which operated the site until severe economic challenges led to a formal declaration of bankruptcy and the cessation of primary large-scale corporate mining around 2017.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.