Calcite with Chalcopyrite, Dolomite, Galena

specimen number:
2063438

location:
Sweetwater Mine, Viburnum Trend, Reynolds Co., Missouri, USA

description:
An attractive combination piece with many glassy gemmy colorless to very pale yellow scalenohedral calcite crystals, the most prominent crystal 3.0 cm in height, coming off of a brecciated matrix that is completely covered with small colorless crystals of dolomite. Minor galena and small golden crystals of chalcopyrite are accented throughout. This is in terrific condition all around. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

The Sweetwater Mine, situated on the southern end of the Viburnum Trend in Reynolds County, Missouri, opened in the late 1960s as part of the expansion of the Southeast Missouri Lead District. Geologically, the deposit is a classic Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) ore body hosted within the porous platform carbonates of the Upper Cambrian Bonneterre Dolomite. Mineralization primarily consists of galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, accompanied by prominent gangue minerals such as spectacular scalenohedral calcite and pyrite. While several historic mines in the district have wound down operations over the decades, the Sweetwater Mine has remained an active and vital part of regional production under modern operators.

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