Galena and Dolomite

What an eye-catching sulfide association specimen from the Black Cloud mine. The Galena crystals are essentially cubic in habit but show a slight amount of what I would describe as being slightly “built-up” with minor stepped faces almost resembling "Cathedral Gothic" Pyrite. Associated with the Galena one can see beautiful “snowball”-esque groups of intergrown vitreous, cream-colored Dolomite rhombs. The matrix is a mix of Sphalerite, Pyrite and Galena. For a specimen with very little color, it’s a beautiful piece, and the crystallization catches one’s attention.

The Black Cloud Mine was one of the most famous specimen producing locales in Leadville and was one of the last operating mines in Colorado when it closed in 1999. The Leadville mining district was the most productive silver-mining region in Colorado. As of 1963 the cumulative production of the area was 240 million troy ounces of Silver = $6.6 billion at today’s prices.

Specimen# CO712B46