Mimetite (1165)

Unknown Owner

Classic Mexican specimen with attractive yellow botryoidal crystallized mimetite covering most of the front of this matrix. This is in very good condition. This would have been collected in the late 1960s. Mimetite from the Congreso Leon Mine in San Pedro Corralitos, Chihuahua, Mexico occurs in the oxidized zone of a lead rich hydrothermal vein system that was worked primarily for lead and silver. The mine became well known among mineral collectors in the late 20th century for producing bright yellow to orange hexagonal crystals of mimetite, a lead arsenate chloride mineral. These crystals commonly formed in open cavities within altered limestone and were associated with cerussite, wulfenite, and other secondary lead minerals. Although mining activity was limited in scale, the locality gained international recognition for the quality and color of its mimetite specimens.