Galena
Galena is a mineral with formula PbS, in the Sulfuros group. This specimen comes from Coto La Cruz, Linares, Jaén, Andalucía, España and joined the Terrium collection in 1988.
Description
Mosaic-intergrown cubic crystals. Good grey-silver metallic lustre, perhaps with a slight patina. Compact, substantial piece with cerussite association, representative of the type of galena mined at Linares.
History of this specimen
Only surviving piece from my childhood–teenage collection. It was the first one given to me by Dr Don Francisco Mayo, during a medical visit to his office after being run over by a Land Rover Santana. That is why it bears number 0000. He handed it to me in a Nutribén baby-food jar, with cotton wool in the bottom. He kept all the minerals in his collection that way, and I adopted the same habit for years. When I left home, 99% of that collection ended up disappearing. It was not until 2025, when I took up the hobby again, that I noticed the detail: the galena and the Land Rover Santana came from the same mining district. The doctor knew it. It took me nearly forty years to realise.
About Galena
Galena is the principal ore of lead and one of the most common sulphides. In the Linares district it typically occurs as well-defined cubic crystals, often associated with cerussite, baryte or sphalerite. It is a dense, opaque mineral with an irregular fracture, closely tied to the mining and industrial history of the area.
About the locality
The Linares–La Carolina mining district was one of Europe's major lead-producing centres from the 19th century. It is now inactive and exhausted for the recovery of well-crystallised galena. Specimens from this district are increasingly scarce on the market and are valued both for their cubic morphology and for their historical context.
Technical data
- Catalogue No.
- 0000
- Composition
- PbS
- Name
- Galena
- Group
- Sulfuros
- Category
- Meritum Persé
- Associations
- Cerusita
- Mine
- Coto La Cruz
- District / Municipality
- Linares
- Province
- Jaén
- Region
- Andalucía
- Country
- España
- Size (cm)
- 5.5 x 4.5 x 3.5
- Weight
- 269 g
- Acquired
- 1988
- Ex-collection
- Dr. Francisco Mayo Gallego
- Etymology
- From the Latin "galena", a term already used by Pliny the Elder for lead minerals, a name that has been retained to this day for lead sulphide (PbS).
- Quality
- Buena
- Value trend
- Estable
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