Calcite with Hedenbergite (CAR-0013)

specimen number:
9273078

location:
Verkhniy Mine, Dal'negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia

description:

A cluster of gem quality glassy colorless twinned calcite crystals with little matrix. The matrix present consists mostly of hedenbergite, which is also present as inclusions within the calcite. In super condition. Vintage 1990s specimen from this locality. Incredibly fluorescent red under longwave ultraviolet light.

The Verkhniy mine, located within the Dalnegorsk Urban District of Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East, represents a foundational open-pit and underground mining operation renowned for its historic lead-zinc production and notable collector mineral specimens, particularly tabular calcites and silicates. Geologically, the deposit is a premier example of a skarn-type polymetallic system, formed where Mesozoic-age igneous complex intrusions interacted with thick upper Paleozoic carbonate and limestone sequences. This contact metamorphism generated extensive silicate bodies rich in hedenbergite, garnet, and wollastonite, while subsequent lower-temperature hydrothermal phases deposited high-grade lead and zinc sulfides, creating deep mineralized zones filled with galena and sphalerite. Historically, industrial exploitation of the near-surface outcroppings commenced in 1907 under the Tetyukhe Industrial Mining Stock Corporation, which expanded underground developments and narrow-gauge rail infrastructure to export heavy metal concentrates. Operations transformed significantly after Soviet nationalization, with the mine shifting under the state-managed Dalpolimetall corporate umbrella to supply strategic base metals through peak industrial production periods in the 1970s and 1980s. Following modernization and corporate restructuring into a joint-stock enterprise in 1993, organized open-cut extraction and selective deep-level underground shaft mining targeting remaining skarn ore bodies continue under active corporate management through 2026.

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