Calcite with Dolomite, Galena

specimen number:
9892196

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

description:
Pale yellow glassy gemmy crystals of calcite, the prominent crystal double terminated and measuring to 3.0 cm in length, aesthetic on a brecciated matrix covered with sparkling dolomite crystals and minor galena. In good condition. Crystallized all around with no points of attachment.

The Sweetwater Mine, situated in the southern portion of the Viburnum Trend in Reynolds County, Missouri, is a world-class Mississippi Valley-type deposit hosted within the porous platform carbonates of the Upper Cambrian Bonneterre Dolomite. Mineralization formed through ancient hydrothermal fluid migration, concentrating metal sulfides within ancient reef and algal mound structures. Modern exploration of the district began in the mid-1950s, leading to major underground operations such as Sweetwater (originally developed as the Ozark Lead Company mine) starting production in the late 1960s to extract valuable ore minerals. Beyond its significant industrial output of lead, copper, and zinc, the mine became globally renowned among mineral collectors for yielding pristine, highly sculptural crystals, particularly large scalenohedral calcite prisms, lustrous galena, and associated accessory minerals.

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