Pyrite

specimen number:
2133301

location:
Huanzala Mine, Ancash, Peru

description:
Choice cluster of bright lustrous sharply formed golden pyrite crystals. In great condition.

The Huanzala Mine, located in the Huallanca District of the Ancash Department, Peru, is a major skarn and replacement deposit containing complex lead, zinc, silver, and copper mineralization. Geologically, the deposit formed during the Miocene epoch when hydrothermal fluids from intrusive quartz monzonite porphyries interacted with the Cretaceous Santa and Carhuaz limestone formations, precipitating extensive beds of sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and rare manganese sulfides like alabandite. Commercial mining and underground quarrying operations began at the site in 1968 under the management of the Mitsui Mining and Smelting Company, which developed a sophisticated flotation mill to process the complex sulfide ores. The mine has maintained continuous large-scale production from 1968 through to the present day, remaining a significant regional producer of zinc and lead concentrates.

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