Calcite with Sphalerite

specimen number:
8911215

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

description:
Attractive grouping of scalenohedral gemmy lustrous amber colored calcite crystals, this measuring 10.0 cm in length, set nicely up on a lustrous black sphalerite crystal matrix. Slight cleaving is present on the lower termination of the crystal grouping. Slight damage to the sphalerite crystals along one edge. Quite aesthetic and very eye-catching. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection. The specimen comes with a custom acrylic display base.

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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