Barite from Galena King Mine, New Mexico, USA

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Crystallized fluorite covering the top of matrix, as well as covering crystallized bladed barite. In good condition.The Galena King Mine, located in the Manzanita Mountains of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, was initially discovered around 1907 by A.G. Bateman and experienced intermittent commercial production of lead, fluorite, silver, and gold from 1908 through the mid-1925s. Plans to reopen the property during World War II were halted when the surrounding land was incorporated into a military proving ground, leading to its closure and eventual acquisition as private property. Geologically, the deposit consists of fissure veins and ribbon-like ore seams ranging from a few inches to five feet thick, formed within a northeast-trending Neoproterozoic rhyolite breccia zone. The mineral assemblage is characterized by fluorite, galena, barite, quartz, and calcite, featuring numerous cavities and vugs lined with crystallized mineral deposits.