What does galena look like

Small amounts of silver were refined from lead by the Romans about years ago [2]. Public domain image by Georgius Agricola. Galena is very easy to smelt. If rocks that contain galena are placed in a fire, lead can be collected from below the ashes after the fire burns out.

People have taken advantage of this simple smelting for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found lead beads and statues in Turkey that date back to about BC [1]. Lead is probably the first metal to have been processed from an ore. The ancient Romans made lead pipe and used it as indoor plumbing.

Plumbum is the Latin word for lead. The word "plumbing" and our use of "Pb" as the chemical symbol for lead come from the ancient Romans. The ancient Greeks and Romans were able to separate silver from lead about years ago [2]. Many of the Roman lead ingots were inscribed "Ex Arg" or "Ex Argent" to signify that the silver had been removed from the lead. The Greeks were able to desilver lead to a 0. It is surprising that they were able to realize that the lead contained silver and amazing that they were able to develop such an efficient method of refining!

Galena weathers easily. Fresh surfaces of galena tarnish rapidly from a silver metallic luster to a dull gray to dull black color. When exposed to the elements or buried in soil, galena quickly weathers to anglesite, cerussite, pyromorphite, or another lead mineral. These minerals are often used in prospecting. When they are found at the surface, they often reveal that galena is present below.

The best way to learn about minerals is to study with a collection of small specimens that you can handle, examine, and observe their properties. Inexpensive mineral collections are available in the Geology. The planet Venus has an inhospitable environment where volcanoes vent superheated gases into the atmosphere.

Sulfur and lead are among the gases erupted from the volcanoes on Venus. They remain in the gaseous phase until they are high enough in the atmosphere to condense. In , researchers at Washington University in St. Louis provided plausible evidence that "heavy metal snow" - which is most likely a combination of lead sulfide galena and bismuth sulfide - falls on the higher elevations of Venus [4]. Galena crystal radio: One of the most interesting uses of galena was in early crystal radios.

The operation of these radios required alternating current to be converted into a pulsing direct current. For that to occur, a semiconductor material was used to limit the flow of electricity to one direction. The alternating current flowed through a wire, known as a cat's whisker, into a semiconductor crystal, which was usually a crystal of galena, which only allowed flow in a single direction.

Related: The Many Uses of Lead. Galena is a very important mineral because it serves as an ore for most of the world's lead production. It is also a significant ore of silver. Galena has very few uses beyond its service as an ore, but that should not diminish its importance to society. It is a component of some pegmatites and granites, as reported in the Wausau region.

It is extremely abundant in the low temperature hydrothermal deposits widely known as Mississippi Valley type deposits such as is found in the southwestern part of the state. The deposits in the southwestern part of Wisconsin primarily in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Counties are internationally known as a major part of Upper Mississippi Valley zinc-lead district.

This district extends into adjacent Iowa, and Illinois. The deposits are dominantly in Ordovician carbonates where they form gash veins, replacement bodies, flats along bedding planes, and sloping pitches cross-cutting bedding. Gentle but persistent folds, small displacement faults and solution features localize many of the deposits. The mineralogy of the deposits is simple, consisting generally of galena, sphalerite, marcasite, barite, pyrite, calcite, and dolomite.

Any of the galena deposits listed below are also likely to contain the other minerals. An excellent detailed description of the district, individual deposits and their genesis is given in Heyl et al. Galena has been produced from the Upper Mississippi Valley zinc-lead district in Wisconsin since the seventeenth century.

Some mines started by Native Americans may predate this. A few small lead mines operated by individuals persist to the present day. Others are presently preserved for tourists. Hundreds of mines of all sizes are known from the district. Many were small shallow diggings. Most of the mines in the district are now inaccessible, either being overgrown, collapsed, filled-in or leveled. Most of the dumps have been removed for road material.

Still, piles of waste rock, featuring some interesting mineral collecting persist in the area as testimony to the extent of the mining. The galena occurs in three generations, with the earliest generation forming cubic xls.

The cubes may form individual crystals up to 15 cm. Rarely, the dodecahedron may appear as a modification. Some cubes are elongated parallel to an A4 symmetry axis, giving pseudo-tetragonal symmetry. Others are elongated parallel to an A3 symmetry axis, giving pseudohexagonal symmetry Hobbs, Octahedral crystals tend to be smaller, but xls. In addition, numerous peculiar habits of galena are known.

Arborescent masses of elongated distorted cubes resembling native copper are described by Hobbs Galena may form hollow stalactitic to curving helictitic habits up to 1 cm. Gricius further describes these stalactitic to skeletal habits, noting in addition herringbone intergrowths on crystals on Hobbs notes aggregates of small cubes stacked in a spiral pattern, forming an elongated crystal twisted by 30 degrees along a 9 cm.

Galena is the most important ore of lead. Silver is often produced as a by-product. Most lead is consumed in making batteries, however, significant amounts are also used to make lead sheets, pipe and shot. It is also used to make low-melting-point alloys. Its use as a pigment has declined as has its use in making solder.

Other uses include cable covering, plumbing, ammunition, manufacture of PbEt4 - an antiknock compound in petrol. Environmental concern with lead poisoning, and cheaper unleaded petrol prices is slowly resulting in less use of lead in petrol, the metal is very effective as a sound absorber, a radiation shield around X-ray equipment and nuclear reactors, used extensively in paints, although recently the use of lead in paints has been drastically curtailed to eliminate or reduce health hazards, the oxide is used in producing fine "crystal glass" and "flint glass" with a high refractive index for achromatic lenses, used to contain corrosive liquids, ammunition and insecticides.

Galena is a shinny gray stone with a cubic structure. Like its almost identical twin sister, pyrite, its physical appearance looks like little cubes stacked upon cubes, stacked upon cubes until a larger cube evolves.

It is interesting to explore a sample with a magnifying glass. There is no end to the number of images that can be found. Galena is very soft. It is possible to scratch or damage most galena samples with a hard fingernail. Galena is the principal ore of lead. In its natural state it should not be handled extensively with bare hands, as lead poisoning could result.

Therefore, it is not a stone like quartz that you can hold for hours with only positive results. It should be touched and held for only a short period of time followed by washing your hands in soapy water. As long as it is within your aura, it will be effective. DO NOT use galena to make an elixir. Galena is a friend to those in turmoil. When your nervous energy is at a high level for any reason, it is the first stone to bring you to a place of rest. When a high state of stress is being experienced, you could use fluorite to smooth out the stress.

But you will still have the same high level of energy. Obsidian calms the stress like fluorite and also lowers the energy level.