URI16 Wulfenite

Mianning Mine, Houshan Town, Mianning Co., Sichuan Prov., China
10.3x 10.1x 6.9 cm

$400

A wulfenite specimen from one of the lesser known Chinese localities, the Mianning Pb/Zn mine.  These Mianning wulfenites are not seen all too often, but this year one dealer had a group of particularly rich (and in some cases sizable) pieces.  The wulfenite crystals are bipyramidal, the small white crystals are barite.

For all the minerals that have come from China, the country has produced a relatively small amount of wulfenite.  In fact, up until the discovery of these specimens several years ago (8-9 years, I think) no good wulfenite specimens from the country were available on the market.  Around 2005-2006 there was a second major wulfenite discovery near Urumqi (further north in Xinjiang A.R.) that is considerably more well known, and which produced spectacular specimens in fairly large quantities.  As far as I am aware however, that second find has been worked out for some years, and apart from that occurrence and this one, I don't think there has been another Chinese locality to produce any significant wulfenites in any quantity.