Pyromorphite

specimen number:
2133340

location:
Huari-Huari Mine, Potosi, Tomas Frias, Potosi, Bolivia

description:
Interesting locality example for the species, green crystals of pyromorphite across the top of matrix. In good condition.

The Huari Huari mine, located in the Potosi Department of southwestern Bolivia, is a historic underground operation recognized for its complex polymetallic mineralization and its status as a premier source of the critical metal indium. Geologically, the deposit consists of Miocene-aged xenothermal veins and stratiform layers hosted within deformed Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and associated with dacitic volcanic activity. The ore body is highly telescopic, displaying an early crystallization of quartz, cassiterite, and arsenopyrite that transitions into dense, late-stage hypogene zones dominated by indium-rich sphalerite, pyrite, galena, and various copper-silver-lead sulfosalts. While localized silver and tin mining in the surrounding Potosi district dates back to the Spanish colonial era, structured modern commercial development at Huari Huari expanded significantly in the mid-20th century under the operation of Empresa Minera Caballo Blanco, serving as a primary global supplier for the Indium Corporation of America until a sudden drop in reserves prompted a temporary closure in 1978. The mine was successfully reopened in 1983 by the mining company COMSUR, which maintained steady zinc, silver, and lead extraction until corporate restructuring transferred operations to Empresa Minera Sinchi Wayra in 2006, the same year the Bolivian government formally granted ongoing exploitation concessions to Huari Huari Ltd. to continue mechanized deep-shaft production.

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