WULFENITE - Yellow lead ore.

It is generally acknowledged that the Red Cloud mine, located in La Paz county Arizona, is one of the world's classic mineral localities.  Since the 1870s, the mine was primarily a producer of silver and lead ore.  The wulfenite crystals were a byproduct of the silver mining operation which was stopped in the 1890s.  This mine has been opened and closed many time since then as a specimen mine.  The last group to have control over the mine ceased operations during 2003.  During our recent trip to the mine, we were told that the current owner ( a Dentist from Kansas) bought the mine over the Internet for $50,000.  He intends to keep the mine available to collectors and gem and mineral clubs.

The wulfenite crystals occur in a mineralized, brecciated andesite. This is a kind of a reddish brown and black, crumbly rock.  We were allowed to collect in the  dumps and (supervised) on the top bench of the main pit.  The caretaker seemed more interested in pushing the UV properties of the dump material than in the ability to collect "World Class" wulfenite!  Several in our group stayed till after dark to load up on the fluorescent rocks.  The caretaker suggested that this material was on  par with Franklin, NJ.; displaying up to four colors at a time.  Willemite, Fluorite, Hyalite were the minerals sought after under Shortwave Ultraviolet.

Note: Several hundred tons of mine tailings have been deposited during the early 1980s on public BLM land from the adjacent Red Cloud mine. The lead oxides leaching out of these dumps pose a dangerous threat to the environment.  "It is conceivable that high concentrations of lead could have reached the Imperial NWR and the Colorado River."  (Arizona BLM)  Could be a problem for the new owner!!!