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Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the Cubic (crystal system)|cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite.
Lead ore deposits
Galena deposits often contain significant amounts of silver as included silver sulfide mineral phases or as limited solid solution within the galena structure. These argentiferous galenas have long been the most important ore of silver in mining. In addition zinc, cadmium, antimony, arsenic and bismuth also occur in variable amounts in lead ores. Selenium substitutes for sulfur in the structure constituting a solid solution series. The lead Telluride (chemistry)|telluride mineral altddgaite has the same crystal structure as galena. Within the weathering or oxidation zone galena alters to anglesite (lead sulfate) or cerussite (lead carbonate). Galena exposed to acid mine drainage can be oxidized to anglesite by naturally occurring bacteria and archaea, in a process similar to bioleaching [Hydrometallurgy. ''Kinetics and mechanism of the bacterial and ferric sulphate oxidation of galena'']
Galena deposits are found mmin Wales,it occurs most notably in the Carbonate hosted lead zinc ore deposits|Mississippi Valley type deposits of the Lead Belt in southeastern Missouri, and in similar environments in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Galena also was a major mineral of the zinc-lead mines of the tri-state district around Joplin in southwestern Missouri and the adjoining areas of Kansas and Oklahoma. Galena is also an important ore mineral in the silver mining regions of Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Montana. Of the latter, the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho|Coeur d'Alene district of northern Idaho was most prominent.
Galena is the List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, and gemstones|official state mineral of the U. S. states: Missouri and Wisconsin.
Galena uses
One of the earliest uses of galena was as Kohl (cosmetics)|kohl, which in Ancient Egypt, was applied around the eyes to reduce the glare of the desert sun and to repel flies, which were a potential source of disease.[Metropolitan Museum of Art. ''The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt.'' (New York: The Museum, 2005), p. 10, ISBN 1-58839-170-1]
Galena is a semiconductor with a small bandgap of about 0.4 eV which found use in early wireless communication systems. For example, it was used as the '''crystal''' in Crystal set|crystal radio sets, in which it was used as a point-contact diode to detect the radio signals. The galena crystal was used with a safety pin or similar sharp wire, which was known as a Cat's-whisker detector|"cat's whisker". Making such wireless sets was a popular home hobby in the North of England during the 1930s. Derbyshire was one of the main areas where Galena was mined.
Scientists that were linked to this application are Karl Ferdinand Braun and Sir Jagdish Bose. In modern wireless communication systems, galena detectors have been replaced by more reliable semiconductor devices, though silicon point-contact microwave detectors still exist in the market.
See also
- List of minerals
References
- Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr. (1985) ''Manual of Mineralogy'', Wiley, 2nd ed., pp. 274–276, ISBN 0-471-80580-7
- Mindat with location data
- Franklin and Sterling Hill mineral deposits
Notes
External links
- Case Studies in Environmental Medicine (CSEM): Lead Toxicity
- ToxFAQs: Lead
- Mineral information institute entry for lead
Category:Lead minerals
Category:Sulfide minerals
Category:Wisconsin culture
Category:Symbols of Wisconsin
Category:Alchemical substances
simple:Galena
Related Images- Galena from Polish Kolchoz Mine
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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