Calcite with Dolomite, Chalcopyrite

specimen number:
9892127

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

description:
A pale yellow to almost colorless gem crystal of calcite lustrous and 2.3 x 0.9 x 0.7 cm in size coming straight off a breccia matrix coated with crystallized dolomite and chalcopyrite. This is in great condition all around.

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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