Cerussite

$1,200.00

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Weinrich MineralsFeatured

167 for sale·414 sold

Superb cluster of colorless jackstraw cerussite crystals. No real attached matrix, this is in great condition and very solid. A wonderful example from this famous locality. At one time this specimen was part of the collection of William Schultz of Wabash, Indiana. We acquired this collection along with North Star Minerals in the late 1990s.The Flux mine, situated on the western slopes of the Patagonia Mountains within Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States, is a historically significant underground lead-zinc-silver operation celebrated for producing distinctive and beautiful mineral specimens. Geologically, this complex deposit is hosted within a steeply dipping, highly fractured fault zone where Paleozoic limestone and Cretaceous volcanic rocks were intruded by Laramie-age granitic bodies. Ascending, sulfur-bearing hydrothermal fluids circulated through these structural fracture networks, precipitating massive sulfide minerals including galena and sphalerite, which later underwent intensive supergene oxidation near the surface to form a rich suite of secondary lead carbonates, sulfates, and copper silicates within the local solution cavities. Historically, the deposit was discovered and initially worked on a small scale by Spanish explorers and early American frontiersmen during the 1850s, but large-scale industrial development did not begin until the Flux Mining Company and later the Sterling Development Company initiated deep underground shaft and tunnel extraction around 1882. The mine operated sporadically under various corporate owners, including the American Smelting and Refining Company, expanding its underground drifts to supply rich ores to regional smelters through both world wars until declining metal prices and the depletion of easily accessible high-grade reserves led to the permanent cessation of regular mining operations in 1963. Mineralogically, the Flux mine achieved international fame among collectors for its extraordinary occurrences of jackstraw cerussite, a highly prized, delicate variety of lead carbonate that forms intricate, crisscrossing networks of elongated, water-clear to snowy-white acicular and tabular crystals resembling a jumbled pile of straw. Through 2026, while the historic underground workings are completely sealed and inaccessible, specimens of this exquisite jackstraw cerussite preserved in institutional archives and private collections continue to serve as the definitive benchmark for studying delicate carbonate crystallization habits within the heavily oxidized ore zones of the American Southwest.William Schulze of Wabash, Indiana, was a dedicated Midwestern field collector and active member of regional lapidary and mineral societies during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Operating during a vibrant era for amateur mineralogy in the Midwest, he focused heavily on the unique carbonate and sulfide mineralization hosted within the Paleozoic limestone and dolomite quarries of northern and central Indiana. Schulze was particularly known for collecting high-quality, crystallized specimens of calcite, pyrite, sphalerite, fluorite, and iridescent marcasite from classic Hoosier localities, including the nearby Wabash County quarries and well-known operations in Huntington, Pleasant Mills, and Kokomo. His activities coincided with the peak years of the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies, where collectors regularly exhibited field-collected suites at local gem and mineral shows to document the regional mineral occurrences.