Japan007 - Galena and Chalcopyrite - Shiraita Mine, Niigata Prefecture, Chubu Region, Honshu Island, Japan

While I was in Tucson, a Japanese dealer had three galena and chalcopyrite specimens from this rare locality. I only rarely see good specimens from this locality, so I immediately purchased them. Galena, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite occur in epithermal quartz veins in the Shiraita Mine. For more information on the Shiraita Mine, see the entry at Mindat or on Alfredo Petrov's informative site.

The best specimen from this small lot features a lustrous chalcopyrite twin (1 cm) with some cubic galena to 8 mm. Good chalcopyrite specimens are rare from this uncommon Japanese locality. Both minerals sit on a matrix of small, well-formed quartz crystals. The total size of the specimen is 4.9 x 3.2 x 2.0 cm.