Galena

specimen number:
9892160

location:
Picher Field, Tri-State District, Kansas-Oklahoma, USA

description:
Very choice specimen from the 1960s, this is a cluster of bright lustrous cubic crystals of galena, the faces in turn covered with lustrous octahedral crystals to 1.5 cm in size. These are often referred to as modified crystals. This is in excellent condition. Minor marcasite present on the backside. A real Midwest classic.

The Picher Field, spanning northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas as part of the broader Tri-State lead and zinc mining district, experienced a rich history of extraction that began with major commercial mining around 1914 and peaked during World Wars I and II before operations declined and eventually ceased in the late 20th century. Geologically, the ore deposits are hosted within Mississippi-aged, chert-bearing carbonate rocks of the Boone Formation, where regional hydrothermal fluids deposited Mississippi Valley-type sulfide mineralizations, primarily sphalerite and galena, along fractured strata, collapse breccias, and karst solution cavities.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.