GALENA STALACTITE. Buick Mine, Bixby, Viburnum Trend, Iron Co., Missouri, USA. ...

Description

GALENA STALACTITE
Buick Mine, Bixby, Viburnum Trend, Iron Co., Missouri, USA

The Viburnum Trend is the name given to an area in South-Eastern Missouri where Lead and Zinc have been mined since the early 1700's. Many millions of tons of these metals have been produced over that span of time. A tremendous amount of that production was based on Galena, the sulfide of Lead, which was commonly found all over the district. Not much of that Galena production could be considered suitable for specimens. Of that, most was in the form of small, cubic crystals scattered over the typical limestone host rock. Miners would be on the lookout for unusually interesting or large examples and would save them for the occasional customer passing through. One of the more exotic finds made in the district was of Galena cubes crystallizing as free-hanging "stalactites" in the Buick Mine - quite miraculous considering Galena's weight. The stalactites came from the "Cominco Window" area, where there are Barrier Pillars separating the Buick Mine from the adjoining Magmont Mine. In 1997, a sizable pocket of these incredibly rare Galena stalactites was found: 20 to 25 specimens were extracted. The longest two specimens found were 35 cm long BUT in one case: half of the specimen is in one person's collection and the other half is in another's - when those two specimens will ever be joined together is anyone's guess.

But in another twist of fate, here we have two halves that have been reunited. This specimen was removed as two pieces and somehow the fact that they went together got lost in the shuffle - but they were both in mineral dealer Dan Weinrich's inventory. Another mineral dealer (Dave Bunk) was rooting around, noticed the two pieces, and speculated that they might fit together and voilà, they did! A "re-unification" was made and that repair functioned for a while before separating again. That is the current state of affairs - it is a "click fit" with both halves of the specimen in excellent condition with good luster and no other damage. The break does reveal the hollow core that runs the length of the specimen. One end shows that it was the attachment point for the stalactite; otherwise there are no other points of contact. Overall length of the piece when conjoined is an astonishing 13 inches (33 cm) long!
Overall measurements: Half "A": 5.9 x 3 x 1.5 inches (14.9 x 7.6 x 3.8 cm); Half "B": 8 x 1.4 x 1.25 inches (20.3 x 3.5 x 3.2 cm); "A" + "B" = 13 inches (33 cm) in length. Offered at no reserve.

Provenance: Dan Weinrich [Hoppel Catalog # D1641]


[Scale: 1 inch, with mark at 1 cm]

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