Sulfur

specimen number:
2262258

location:
San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

description:
Yellow translucent lustrous crystals of native sulfur to 0.5 cm in size across the top of matrix. In good condition. Classic locality for the species. The specimen comes with a previous collection data card with an acquisition date showing of 1958.

The San Carlos sulfur deposit, located roughly thirty-five kilometers south of San Felipe within the San Felipe Municipality of Baja California, Mexico, and known alternatively as the El Apache or Veronica claim, is a classic North American mineral locality celebrated for producing highly aesthetic museum specimens of native sulfur. Geologically, this near-surface deposit formed via solfataric action from now-extinct Quaternary volcanic fumaroles fueled by a cooling, volatile-rich pluton at depth along active block-fault conduit systems of the Gulf Extensional Province. As ascending sulfurous hydrothermal gases and steam reached near-surface conditions, rapid oxidation and condensation inside a multi-phase vapor-dominated system leached extensive cavities out of the local granitic and metamorphic country rock, precipitating native sulfur as bright, lemon-yellow platy aggregates, grape-like layers, and sharp, hollow-faced orthorhombic hopper crystals measuring up to five centimeters across within an opaline and gypsiferous matrix. Historically, localized hand-trenching and exploratory surface quarrying at the deposit commenced on a minor scale during the 1920s, but the property experienced its primary era of industrial development from 1951 through approximately 1960, when the El Apache operation extensively mined the open pits to supply raw, crushed sulfur for agricultural fertilizer and regional soil conditioners. Commercial open-pit operations ceased around 1960 due to high transportation costs and shifting market values, allowing independent field collectors and mineral dealers to actively develop the site into a famous specimen-producing locality during the 1960s and 1970s.

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