Pyrite after Pyrrhotite

specimen number:
9273255

location:
Taxco de Alarcon, Guerrero, Mexico

description:
Thin platy pseudo-hexagonal crystals of what were once pyrrhotite, these replaced by crystalline pyrite, across the top of matrix. Damage present typical of these, this still quite good.

Taxco de Alarcon, located in the northern mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, is a legendary historic mining district whose silver wealth has been exploited since pre-Hispanic times and dramatically expanded following the arrival of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes in the 1520s, with large-scale commercial extraction surging under the 18th-century mining magnate Jose de la Borda. Geologically, the deposit is hosted within a complex volcanic and intrusive sequence of the Sierra Madre del Sur, featuring Tertiary volcanic rocks cut by hydrothermal vein systems. Mineralogically, the district is famous for its rich polymetallic veins producing exceptional specimens of silver, quartz, calcite, barite and various base metal sulfides that continue to captivate mineral collectors worldwide.

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