Wulfenite

specimen number:
8311255

location:
Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico

description:
Caramel colored blocky crystals of lustrous wulfenite measuring to 1.0 cm in size on matrix. In good condition. Nice miniature from this classic locality.

The Ojuela Mine, located near Mapimi in Durango, Mexico, is a legendary mineral locality celebrated for its incredible diversity of secondary minerals found in a vast oxidation zone. Geologically, it is a carbonate-replacement deposit where mineral-rich hydrothermal fluids interacted with Cretaceous limestone to form complex chimneys and mantos. The mine is particularly famous for its aesthetic wulfenite specimens; while often recognized for thin, tabular habits, the locality also produces robust, blocky crystals in a classic butterscotch-yellow hue, frequently perched on a contrasting dark gossan matrix. Historically, the mine was discovered in 1598 and operated for over three centuries as a major producer of lead, zinc, and silver. Industrial activity peaked around the turn of the 20th century under the Compania Minera de Penoles, which constructed the iconic 1030-foot-long suspension bridge to access the mountain workings. While large-scale corporate mining ended by the mid-1940s, the mine remains legendary as local miners continue to recover world-class specimens of butterscotch wulfenite, adamite, and legrandite from its nearly 300 miles of tunnels.

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