Wulfenite

specimen number:
2282074

location:
Erupcion Mine, Los Lamentos, Chihuahua, Mexico

description:
A choice loose caramel colored tabular crystal of wulfenite. In great condition. Choice thumbnail for this Mexican classic.

The Erupcion mine, situated in the Sierra Los Lamentos district within the northern desert region of Chihuahua, Mexico, is a base-metal deposit noted for its lead and silver output. Geologically, the deposit consists of a single, continuous, tabular-elongate carbonate replacement ore body hosted within folded and fractured Cretaceous limestones. The primary mineralization underwent complete supergene oxidation extending down to the local water table, converting original lead sulfides into massive aggregates of cerussite alongside well-developed secondary crystals of wulfenite and vanadinite within open solution cavities and cave systems. Organized underground mining operations began in the early twentieth century, scaling up during the 1920s under the Erupcion Mining Company and Ahumada Lead Company to exploit the rich cerussite ores. Large-scale corporate production continued steadily until 1931, when unmanageable water inflows forced the closure of deep operations, although localized, artisanal specimen mining has persisted intermittently into the late twentieth century.

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