Barite

specimen number:
2292323

location:
Meikle Mine, Elko Co., Nevada, USA

description:
Glistening amber colored gemmy and lustrous crystals of tabular barite to 1.3 cm in size forming a large cluster without matrix. Lightly dusted with micro calcite, this is in good condition. Collected in the late 1990s.

The Meikle Mine, located in the northern Carlin Trend of Elko County, Nevada, is a high-grade gold deposit hosted within Silurian to Devonian sedimentary rocks, particularly the Popovich and Roberts Mountains Formations. First prospected for mercury in the 1930s, the deep-seated gold deposit was discovered in 1989 through drilling by Barrick Goldstrike Mines, with underground production commencing in 1996. Geologically, the deposit is classified as a Carlin-type gold deposit, where mineralizing fluids heated to approximately 220 degrees Celsius interacted with permeable, reactive dolomite and limestone breccia, depositing gold along with pyrite. In addition to its gold reserves, the mine is notable for underground solution cavities that yielded well-crystallized specimens of barite and calcite.

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