Quartz with Pyrite after Pyrrhotite, Sphalerite

specimen number:
1822126

location:
Naica, Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico

description:
A wonderful combination piece with semi lustrous gemmy purple crystals of quartz measuring to 2.3 cm in length coming aesthetically off a matrix of crystallized sphalerite. Richly scattered throughout are thin platy crystals of what were once pseudo-hexagonal pyrrhotite, these now replaced by pyrite. These measure to 1.5 cm in size. In great condition, an excellent example from a short lived find in the late 1980s.

The Naica mining district in Chihuahua, Mexico, originated with its first recorded claim in 1794, transitioned through intermittent operations and modern industrial development by companies like Industrias Penoles, and suspended operations indefinitely in October 2015 due to uncontrollable underground flooding. Geologically, the deposit sits within an Early Cretaceous carbonate sequence of limestones and dolostones intruded by a hidden magmatic body. This intrusive heat source maintained a deep, mineral-saturated thermal aquifer for hundreds of thousands of years, driving hydrothermal ore deposition (lead, zinc, and silver) as well as the specialized dissolution and recrystallization cycle that formed the world-famous giant selenite gypsum crystals found within its underground cavities.

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