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5" Sphalerite on Quartz - Elmwood Mine
This is a 5" wide specimen containing sphalerite crystals on a sparkling quartz encrusted matrix, collected from the famous Elmwood mine in Tennessee. Small and large sphalerite crystal clusters can be found peppered across what could be considered the top of the specimen, with the largest cluster measuring 1.9" wide.
Shalerite ((Zn,Fe)S) is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc while Galena is a primary ore for lead.
The Elmwood Mine is a zinc mine in Carthage, Tennessee that opened in 1969. It then closed for many years, only to be reopened in 2010. It has produced many world class specimens of fluorite, calcite, barite, and galena over the years. Specimens used to be plentiful as miners were allowed to recover specimens, but collecting is strictly prohibited by the new mine owners. They've gone to great lengths to prevent the mining of specimens, including blasting crystal pockets or filling them with slurry.
Shalerite ((Zn,Fe)S) is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc while Galena is a primary ore for lead.
About Quartz
Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.
Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.
SPECIES
Sphalerite & Quartz
LOCATION
Elmwood Mine, Carthage, Tennessee
SIZE
Specimen is 5 x 4.4", largest sphalerite cluster 1.9"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#66312
