Barite from Troya Mine, Basque Country, Spain

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Large colorless thick mostly lustrous tabular crystals of OPEC barite to 4.0 cm in size coming off of a small amount of matrix. In excellent condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark who acquired the piece in 1993. Located in the Basque Country of Spain, the Troya Mine in Mutiloa features a geology defined by carbonate-host strata where hydrothermal fluids deposited sulfide mineralization, notably rich in zinc and lead. Historically, the site transitioned from ancient and medieval iron workings into a modern industrial underground operation during the late 20th century, extracting base metals before its eventual closure. Today, the location and its surrounding dumps are well-known to mineral collectors for yielding fine micro-specimens of sulfides and secondary copper carbonates.