Pyromorphite (ATES-0006)

specimen number:
9273221

location:
9th level, Jersey Vein, Bunker Hill Mine, Shoshone Co., Idaho, USA

description:

Classic Idaho specimen with lustrous yellow green barrel shaped crystals of pyromorphite measuring to 0.7 cm in size over a first-generation of orange lustrous botryoidal pyromorphite crystals. In great condition.

The 9th level of the Jersey Vein within the Bunker Hill mine, located near Kellogg in Shoshone County, Idaho, is a highly significant structural compartment within the Coeur d'Alene mining district, legendary for producing spectacular pyromorphite mineral specimens. Geologically, the Jersey Vein is a prominent, steeply dipping fault fissure hosted within the heavily folded and fractured Mesoproterozoic quartzites and argillites of the Belt Supergroup. Lead-zinc-silver mineralization occurred as deep-seated, high-temperature hydrothermal fluids precipitated massive galena and sphalerite within the fault zone, while subsequent near-surface supergene weathering oxidized these primary sulfides, allowing lead-rich solutions to react with phosphate-bearing groundwaters to form vibrant, orange-yellow to apple-green barrel-shaped pyromorphite crystals in open solution cavities. Underground operations at the main Bunker Hill property began shortly after its discovery in 1885, growing into one of the largest lead-zinc mines in United States history. While the vast corporate mining complex operated almost continuously until economic and environmental pressures forced a primary shutdown in 1981, the specific 9th level Jersey Vein workings yielded its most celebrated specimen pockets during focused extraction periods in the mid-twentieth century, with intermittent collector salvage and maintenance operations continuing to extract world-class pyromorphites well into the late 1990s.

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