Description

A brilliant cubic crystal of galena with octahedral modifications on sphalerite crystals from the amazing Polaris Mine (see below). This is a great specimen, in excellent condition (the main crystal has a couple of small contacts that are away from the main display angle and a hairline cleave line that ends at the matrix, where  the crystal is firmly attached.)  From the Steve Szilard collection, a beautiful galena!

About Steve Szilard (click here)

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About the Polaris Mine

The Polaris Mine operated from 1981 to 2002 and was the world’s northernmost mine. Its construction, operation and rehabilitation were all engineering feats. The buildings, processing plant, power plant and others were all built in Quebec and barged over 5,500 km to the site, where they were offloaded and assembled. The concentrate was shipped using massive ice-breakers. And when it was all done, the rehabilitation has left the site looking as though no mine was ever there. During operations, relatively few fine mineral specimens were produced, but the mine was known for having produced very bright sharp galena crystals.