Calcite

Calcite from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, measuring 125 × 93 × 45 mm and weighing 784 grams.

Calcite is a common late-stage gangue mineral at Broken Hill, typically crystallising in veins and cavities after the main sulfide mineralisation, and its presence throughout the field reflects the carbonate-rich fluids that continued moving through the orebody long after the lead, zinc and silver ore itself had formed. A piece of this size, at close to 800 grams, gives a good sense of the scale Broken Hill's vein Calcite can reach.

This specimen comes from the David Vince Collection. It's a solid, substantial example of the gangue mineralogy that accompanies Broken Hill's famous ore, useful alongside any of the field's better-known secondary lead and zinc species.