Stibnite

specimen number:
2262310

location:
Ichinokawa Mine, Saijo City, Ehime, Japan

description:
A set of two lustrous metallic stibnite specimens from this famous old locality. Neither are perfect, still a nice set for this old famous locality. The size provided is the size of the box.

The Ichinokawa mine, situated in Saijo City within the Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku Island, Japan, was an internationally renowned underground operation celebrated for its distinct crystals of stibnite. Geologically, the deposit consists of hydrothermal quartz-stibnite vein networks cutting through the Mesozoic-age Sambagawa metamorphic belt, which is comprised primarily of high-pressure, low-temperature graphite schists and crystalline schists. These mineral-bearing veins developed along regional fault structures related to the Median Tectonic Line, where ascending low-temperature hydrothermal solutions deposited massive antimony sulfide (stibnite) within open fault fractures and brecciated zones, forming pockets filled with elongated, highly striated metallic crystals. Historically, primitive surface quarrying and localized mining for antimony at the site are documented as early as 1679 during the Edo period, initially supplying materials for medicines and alloys. Large-scale industrial underground shaft development and mechanized extraction boomed following the Meiji Restoration, particularly between 1875 and 1900, when intense global demand for antimony to manufacture munitions and industrial machinery turned the mine into a premier global producer under corporate and private management. Due to the gradual exhaustion of the easily accessible high-grade ore bodies, steep underground pumping costs, and heavy competition from lower-cost international producers, production steadily declined after World War I, culminating in the formal and permanent cessation of all commercial mining operations at the Ichinokawa property in 1957.

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