Vanadinite

specimen number:
9302367

location:
Lake Valley, Sierra Co., New Mexico, USA

description:
Interesting antique specimen from New Mexico with needlelike crystals of vanadinite to 0.3 cm in size across matrix. The specimen comes with an old label as shown at the end of the video and most certainly dates to the very early 20th century.

Lake Valley, located in Sierra County, New Mexico, is a historic mining district with discovery dating back to 1876 and its peak silver boom occurring in the early 1880s, most famously centered around the legendary Bridal Chamber find in the David Mine. Geologically, the district is characterized by Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, primarily limestones and shales, that were faulted, intruded by Tertiary volcanic rocks, and subjected to intense hydrothermal alteration and supergene enrichment. Historically, the town rapidly transformed from a bustling camp into a major producer of high-grade silver chloride before production declined significantly toward the late 19th century, leaving a legacy as one of the American Southwest's classic mineral localities.

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