Wulfenite with Calcite

specimen number:
8311518

location:
San Carlos Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico

description:

Brilliant orange platy crystals of wulfenite measuring to 1.3 cm in size with rhombohedral crystals of lustrous calcite set up on matrix. Great color and color contrast on this one. In very good condition.

The San Carlos mine (frequently referenced in historical mineral literature as the Apex mine), situated in the Sierra San Carlos within the Manuel Benavides municipality of northeastern Chihuahua, Mexico, is a classic underground lead-zinc replacement and skarn deposit renowned for its distinct oxidized mineral assemblages. Geologically, the deposit is a small Carbonate Replacement Deposit (CRD) localized where Tertiary-age igneous intrusions came into contact with Cretaceous marine limestone sequences, producing localized pockets of magnetite-rich skarn and primary base-metal sulfides. Intensive supergene weathering oxidized these primary ores, forming specialized secondary mineral suites dominated by distinct, sharp vanadinite prisms and lustrous, tabular orange-red crystals of wulfenite that are often found in association with rhombohedral calcite druses or goethite matrices. Historically, the argentiferous galena outcroppings were worked on a limited scale during the late nineteenth century, followed by a period of organized underground development and mining from approximately 1930 until 1952 when the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) oversaw operations.

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