3.2" Lustrous Chalcopyrite on Quartz, Sphalerite, and Pyrite - Peru

The Casapalca Mine in Peru is situated about 4500 meters above sea level where the boundaries of Lima begin to transition into the Andes Mountains. The rough location is listed as falling within the Huarochiri Province, of the Lima Department in Peru. This mine is notable for its rich deposits of lead, zinc, silver, and copper ores. However, it also produces some especially fine mineral specimens, similar to those coming out of another Peruvian mine, the Huanzala Mine. The most commonly encountered minerals from this locality are: quartz, sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, dolomite, barite, rhodochrosite, and manganoan calcite (aka manganocalcite). Often many of these minerals occur in multi-mineral jumbled associations that make stunning display pieces.

Another interesting feature of this mine is that there is a parallel deposit that bisects the primary vein that, for all intents and purposes, should not be there. This other vein does not match the stratigraphy of the surrounding formation, with conflicting ore richness. After some research, the general consensus is that the differing vein was altered by the hottest geothermal ore veins over the most aggressively folded zones. This greatly altered one of the central parallel veins while allowing the "flatter", surrounding veins to maintain similar geological makeups.