This flat with Scorodite crystals and Schultenite from the Gold Hill Mine in Utah, USA represents an extensive assemblage of arsenic bearing secondary minerals from this historic mining district. The specimens mainly consist of light gray to slightly greenish mineral aggregates, locally accompanied by brownish to yellow alteration zones.
Many of the pieces display fine Scorodite crystals occurring as small crystal aggregates or crystalline coatings on the surface of the matrix. Schultenite commonly occurs together with Scorodite in this paragenesis and adds further mineralogical diversity to the specimens. The flat documents several expressions of the mineralization from the Gold Hill Mine and provides a representative overview of material from this locality.
Geology & Origin
The Gold Hill Mine in Utah belongs to a historic mining area within the Tintic Mining District. The deposits formed when hydrothermal fluids deposited metal rich components in fractures and cavities of the host rocks. Subsequent weathering and oxidation processes produced numerous secondary minerals. Scorodite is a typical secondary arsenate mineral formed through alteration of arsenic bearing primary minerals, while Schultenite is also a secondary oxidation mineral occurring within this mineral assemblage.