Barite

specimen number:
9892118

location:
Maine Mine, Cordesse, Lucenay-l'Eveque, Autun, Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, France

description:
An attractive cluster of yellowish brown lustrous prismatic barite crystals without matrix. This is in very good condition. Crystallized all around with very little attached matrix on one face. An excellent French classic.

The Maine Mine, located near Cordesse and Lucenay-l'Eveque in the Autun district of Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, France, is situated within a hydrothermally altered Paleozoic basement complex. Geologically, the locality is famous for its fault-controlled hydrothermal vein system that crosscuts Hercynian metamorphic and igneous rocks, precipitating fluorite, quartz, galena, and barite. Commercial extraction at the site primarily targeted fluorite and industrial barite during the twentieth century, leaving behind mineral-rich dumps after operations ceased. Mineral collectors highly value the site for its distinct barite specimens, a heavy barium sulfate mineral, which occurs in open cavities as lustrous tabular assemblies ranging from honey-yellow crystals to characteristic grayish-green bladed rosettes associated with purple fluorite and quartz.

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