GALENA



Galena, a lead sulfide mineral, was first reported from Franklin by Nuttall (1822) and later reported from the Kittatinny Limestone by Spurr and Lewis (1925). Galena is common in the Paleozoic sulfide veins, as both fine-grained and coarse-grained material and occasionally in euhedral crystals. Galena is bright metallic gray, opaque, and has perfect cubic cleavage. It has been found at both Franklin and Sterling Hill, but is not a mineral of economic significance here.
At Franklin, massive galena is commonly associated with sphalerite, calcite, chalcopyrite, and bornite in sulfide veins which cut the franklinite-willemite ore. Additionally, it has been found with pyroxenes, willemite, and feldspars, and in willemite veins in andradite-rich assemblages. A noteworthy assemblage is the association of galena with euhedral spessartine crystals, chalcopyrite, and bornite. Galena was known from the Trotter Mine (Palache, 1935), and Ries and Bowen (1922) found galena replacing garnet.
At Sterling Hill, galena is found in association with a variety of minerals and is commonly associated with sphalerite and calcite. Fine cubic crystals up to 1 cm in size have been found in vuggy rhodonite, and it has been found with augite (jeffersonite). Occurrences in the Franklin Marble have not been documented. (Dunn, 1995)

 Location Found: Franklin and Ogdensburg
     
 
     
 Formula: PbS
 Essential Elements: Lead, Sulfur
 All Elements in Formula: Lead, Sulfur
     
 IMA Status: Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"
     
     
 To find out more about this mineral at minDat's website, follow this link   Galena

     
 References:
Dunn, Pete J. (1995). Franklin and Sterling Hill New Jersey: the world's most magnificent mineral deposits. Franklin, NJ.: The Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society. p.532

Frondel, Clifford (1972). The minerals of Franklin and Sterling Hill, a checklist. NY.: John Willey & Sons. p.57
The Picking Table References
 PT Issue and PageDescription / Comment
View IssueV. 34, No. 2 - Fall 1993, pg. 10Duftite From The Sterling Mine Ogdensburg, New Jersey - Galena
View IssueV. 30, No. 1 - Spring 1989, pg. 9The Epidote-Pyroxene-Fluorapophyllite Assemblage in the Franklin Mine at Franklin, New Jersey, Philip P. Betancourt, Galena (small description)
View IssueV. 27 No. 2 - Fall 1986, pg. 6Minerals of the Franklin Quarry, Philip P. Betancourt, Galena
View IssueV. 7, No. 2 - August 1966, pg. 9The Minerals of Sterling Hill 1962-65 by Frank Z. Edwards - Galena (small article)
     
Images
     
Galena and calcite from Sterling Hill Mine, Ogdensburg, NJ.
Galena (metallic silver) and calcite from Sterling Hill Mine, Ogdensburg, NJ. Photo by WP.






All content including, but not limited to, mineral images, maps, graphics, and text on the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society, Inc. (FOMS) website is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons License