GALENA

PbS
Cubic

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 with {100} and {111} as dominant forms. 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. Only once, in 1922, was the galena concentration of the ore so high that it interfered with the processing of a willemite ore shipment.

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, but galena is found in accessory sulfide lenses and is not uncommon in small amounts. It also is found within the Kittatinny Limestone.

Copyright © 1995 by Pete J. Dunn			Website by Herb Yeates
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This page created: January 11, 2001