Stibnite (SUL-0017)

specimen number:
9273066

location:
Lushi Mine, Hunan, China

description:

An aesthetic sprays of bright lustrous metallic terminated stibnite crystals. This is in super condition and very pretty. Quality is excellent for the species.

The Lushi mining district, situated within Lushi County of the Sanmenxia Prefecture in Henan Province, China, represents a prominent geological locality celebrated among mineralogists and industrial producers specifically for its significant antimony output and magnificent, large crystal specimens of metallic stibnite. Geologically, the deposit belongs to the active tectonic zones of the Qinling orogenic belt, where low-to-medium temperature hydrothermal fluids migrated along major regional faults and shear zones within Paleozoic sedimentary and metamorphic sequences. This circulating fluid activity resulted in extensive silicification and the deposition of thick, high-grade antimony sulfide veins, filling open cavity structures with long, prismatic, and vertically striated crystal clusters of stibnite associated with quartz, pyrite, and calcite gangue. Historically, primitive artisanal mining of near-surface outcroppings took place intermittently over several early decades, but organized, large-scale state-run exploitation and systematic underground exploration began in earnest around 1959 to secure a reliable domestic supply of strategic antimony metal. Corporate operations, underground shaft sinking, and highly focused processing mill developments expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s under provincial mining bureaus, turning the site into a notable regional contributor to China's dominant global antimony production, and active extraction and localized exploration projects continue through 2026.

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