Pyrite (SUL-0029)

specimen number:
9273107

location:
Racracancha mine, Tinyahuarco, Pasco, Peru

description:

Bright lustrous golden cubic crystals of pyrite measuring to 2.0 cm in size across matrix with minor sphalerite. Attractive and in very good condition.

The Racracancha area, located in the high-altitude Simon Bolivar and Vicco districts of the Pasco province in central Peru, is historically tied to the massive Cerro de Pasco polymetallic mining region. Geologically, the zone is situated within the central Peruvian Andes metallogenic belt, characterized by complex skarn, replacement, and hydrothermal vein deposits rich in zinc, lead, silver, and copper embedded in Mesozoic sedimentary formations. While large-scale mining operations by majors like the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation and later the state-owned Centromin dominated the regional landscape throughout most of the 20th century, operations specific to the Racracancha sector have transitioned over the decades from scattered silver-lead exploration in the colonial and early republican eras to localized, small-scale quarrying and industrial mineral extraction.

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