hematite - slab of crystalline hematite from the BBC Mine, La Paz County, Arizona

hematite - Fe₂O₃

This unusual crystalline hematite was collected at the BBC Mine in La Paz County, Arizona. The slab is 3/8" thick, and is polished on one side, as cut on the other.

The BBC mine is sometimes called the BCC Mine. It was first opened for copper, with the copper hosted in bedded hematite. At the surface, the hematite beds are laced with secondary copper. The workings are small, and the mine is currently inactive. 

At one point the decision was made to extract copper by heap leaching, where the crushed ore is piled over a plastic pad liner. Sulphuric acid is then  sprayed over the heap. As it trickles through the crushed ore, the acid dissolves the copper into solution and collects at the pad liner. From the pad, the solution is piped to a plant where the copper is extracted by solvents. At the BBC Mine, only a small pad was constructed, and the process may never have been activated.

Hematite is the most important iron ore. It occurs in extensive sedimentary deposits, around gas vents associated with volcanism, and in contact metamorphic deposits. It is characterized by its Indian red streak and reddish brown to black color.

The name is derived from haima, the Greek word for blood, referring to the color of hematite when it is powdered.

Both sides of each are shown.

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