Wulfenite with Barite

specimen number:
2133201

location:
Maoniuping Mine, Mianning, Sichuan, China

description:
Neat locality example for the species, blocky crystals of wulfenite measuring to 0.3 cm in size on matrix with bladed crystals of barite. In good condition.

The Maoniuping Mine, located in Mianning County of Sichuan Province, China, is primarily recognized as a massive industrial resource rather than a source of aesthetic display minerals. Geologically, the deposit is a premier rare earth element site consisting of a Cenozoic carbonatite-syenite pipe complex that intruded into the Panxi rift zone. The mineralization is dominated by industrial ores such as bastnasite and monazite, which typically occur as granular masses or small, poorly formed crystals within barite, fluorite, and calcite veins. The wulfenite from this locality is technically significant for the deposit type but is generally limited to small, thin, pale orange to yellow tabular crystals that are often etched, opaque, or micro-sized. Historically, large-scale mining began in the 1980s and has since expanded into one of the largest rare earth production facilities in the world. While the mine is an essential locality for understanding rare earth mineralogy and alkaline igneous systems, it remains a strictly industrial site where the focus is on the massive throughput of ore rather than the recovery of high-quality crystalline specimens for the collector market.

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