Barite with Sphalerite

specimen number:
8911009

location:
Elmwood complex, Smith Co., Tennessee, USA

description:
Nice combination piece with clusters of colorless crystallized barite to 3.5 cm in size very nice across the top of brilliant lustrous black twinned crystals of sphalerite measuring to 2.5 cm in size. This is in terrific condition.

The Elmwood complex, comprising primarily of the Elmwood, Gordonsville, and Cumberland Mines, in Smith County, Tennessee, is situated within Paleozoic carbonate rock formations where mineralizing hydrothermal brines circulated through ancient, open solution cavities, faults, and breccia zones. Originally developed for industrial underground mining starting in the 1970s, the facility gained global renown among mineral collectors because miners recovered world-class crystal specimens from vugs and cavities intersected during operations. While the complex has experienced intermittent commercial closures and changes in corporate ownership over the decades, it remains a legendary locality celebrated for producing some of the finest aesthetic mineral crystals ever discovered.

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