About Galena

PbS

Heavy, lead-gray lead sulfide that typically forms bright metallic cubes and breaks into smaller cubes along its perfect cleavage; it is the most important ore mineral of lead.

Show 17 localities on the map

Photos of Galena

**Galena** · Tsumeb Mine
Silvery-gray galena cuboctahedron on a small Tsumeb specimen.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Sweetwater Mine
Cluster of galena crystals from the Sweetwater Mine displayed on matrix.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Buick Mine
Cluster of sharp lead-gray spinel-twinned galena crystals to 2 cm across.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Naica
Large Naica galena specimen of many sharp, shiny crystals from the older mining, sparingly attached to matrix.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Madan ore field
Plate of interpenetrating cuboctahedral galena crystals with small needle quartz crystals.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Neudorf (Harzgerode)
Cluster of old Neudorf galena crystals to 1.2 cm with a bluish tint, trimmed with a thin rim of matrix.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Dalnegorsk
Single 4.5 cm galena crystal with sharp faces and bright metallic luster, seated in a bend of the matrix.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

**Galena** · Kautenbach Mine
Galena pseudomorph after pyromorphite with crystals to 3 cm.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

Where Galena is found (17)

Australia

Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Ag depositNew South Wales · 2 photos

Bulgaria

Krushev dol MineSmolyan Province · 3 photos
Madan ore fieldSmolyan Province · 3 photos

Germany

Kautenbach MineRhineland-Palatinate · 3 photos
Neudorf (Harzgerode)Saxony-Anhalt · 3 photos

Ireland

Mogul Mine (Garryard)County Tipperary · 3 photos

Kosovo

Trepca complexMitrovica District

Mexico

NaicaChihuahua · 3 photos
Santa Eulalia Mining DistrictChihuahua · 2 photos

Namibia

Tsumeb MineOshikoto Region · 3 photos

Russia

DalnegorskPrimorsky Krai · 3 photos

United States

Buick MineMissouri · 3 photos
Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)Tennessee · 3 photos
Joplin FieldMissouri · 2 photos
Picher FieldOklahoma · 3 photos
Sweetwater MineMissouri · 3 photos
Viburnum TrendMissouri · 3 photos

Galena on the same specimen with other minerals

Same specimen Galena growing on Chalcopyrite at Viburnum Trend

Gunmetal-grey galena cubes sit on a chalcopyrite matrix in specimens from the Buick Mine in the Viburnum Trend.

A bright metallic lead sulfide on a brassy copper sulfide gives a strong colour and luster contrast in a Mississippi Valley-type specimen.

Sources: SRC-047

Same specimen Marcasite growing on Galena at Joplin Field

Joplin marcasite is described as bladed brassy crystals, sometimes arranged in parallel orientation on grey galena cubes or octahedra; marcasite also lines corrosion cavities in galena.

The pale brassy blades against dark lead-grey galena is a classic Tri-State look and shows an oriented growth relationship.

Sources: SRC-015

Same specimen Galena growing on Quartz at Madan ore field

Cabinet specimens from Madan show lustrous silver-grey galena crystals, many with skeletal or hopper-like modified cube forms and some spinel-twinned, on a matrix of needle-like quartz, with chalcopyrite also present.

The skeletal galena habit is typical of Madan, and the needle quartz base makes a dramatic, delicate display.

Sources: SRC-157

Same specimen Amethyst growing on Galena at Naica

A Naica specimen shows gemmy purple amethyst crystals to about 3 cm rising from a bed of bright metallic galena crystals.

Deep purple amethyst on a shiny lead-grey base is a striking and unusual colour pairing.

Sources: SRC-158 SRC-159

Same specimen Quartz intergrown with Galena at Trepca complex

Trepca specimens are shown that consist mainly of galena with slender quartz prisms, some with a small cluster of quartz prisms; the captions do not say which mineral grew first.

Slender quartz prisms combined with galena illustrate the sulfide and quartz vein assemblage of this famous ore belt.

Sources: SRC-061

Same specimen Quartz intergrown with Galena at Tsumeb Mine

A Tsumeb collection specimen of octahedral galena crystals (to 9 mm) occurs together with quartz and minor dolomite.

Sharp galena octahedra on a Tsumeb specimen carry the prestige of this classic African locality.

Sources: SRC-045

Same specimen Galena with Marcasite at Olkusz ore district

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show marcasite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Chalcopyrite at Cavnic

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show chalcopyrite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Calcite with Galena at Krushev dol Mine

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with calcite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Quartz with Galena at Krushev dol Mine

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with quartz together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Sphalerite with Galena at Madan ore field

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with sphalerite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Marcasite with Galena at Viburnum Trend

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with marcasite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Calcite with Galena at Viburnum Trend

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with calcite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Sphalerite with Galena at Santa Eulalia Mining District

Same specimen Quartz with Galena at Neudorf (Harzgerode)

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with quartz together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Calcite with Galena at Neudorf (Harzgerode)

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with calcite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Fluorite with Galena at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with fluorite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Sphalerite with Galena at Elmwood Mine (Carthage, Smith County)

2 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with sphalerite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Sphalerite at Commodore Mine (Amethyst vein, Creede)

2 specimen photo(s) from this locality show sphalerite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Sphalerite at Bachelor Mine (Amethyst vein, Creede)

Same specimen Galena with Sphalerite at Krushev dol Mine

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show sphalerite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Sphalerite at Dalnegorsk

Same specimen Dolomite with Galena at Viburnum Trend

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with dolomite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Dolomite with Galena at Tsumeb Mine

Same specimen Pyrrhotite with Galena at Santa Eulalia Mining District

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with pyrrhotite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Siderite with Galena at Neudorf (Harzgerode)

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show galena with siderite together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Siderite at Neudorf (Harzgerode)

2 specimen photo(s) from this locality show siderite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Pyrrhotite at Nikolaevskiy Mine

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show pyrrhotite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Same specimen Galena with Pyrrhotite at Santa Eulalia Mining District

Same specimen Galena with Pyrrhotite at Dalnegorsk

Same specimen Galena with Pyrrhotite at Trepca complex

Same specimen Galena with Rhodochrosite at Madan ore field

1 specimen photo(s) from this locality show rhodochrosite with galena together. The pairing comes from the photographer's file name and label, so the relationship between the two minerals is not specified.

Identity

Group: Galena Group
Strunz: 2.CD.10 · 2 Sulfides and sulfosalts
IMA status: Grandfathered
Name origin: From Latin 'galena', the name for lead ore or for the dross left when lead is smelted; Pliny the Elder used it in the first century AD.
Elements: Pb, S

Physical properties

Color: Lead-gray; fresh crystal faces are bright but often tarnish in air
Streak: Lead-gray
Luster: Metallic luster
Transparency: Opaque
Mohs hardness: 2.5–2.75
Density: 7.57–7.58 g/cm³
Cleavage / fracture: Perfect cubic cleavage on {001}; parting or cleavage on {111}; fracture subconchoidal; brittle
Magnetism / fluorescence: Not fluorescent under UV; a tested Viburnum Trend specimen was not noticeably magnetic

Crystallography

Crystal system: Cubic
Space group: Fm-3m
Structure: Rock-salt (halite-type) structure: Pb2+ and S2- ions each form a face-centred cubic arrangement; a = 5.936 Angstrom, Z = 4.
Typical habit: Cube (crystals up to about 1 m on an edge reported); also cubo-octahedron and octahedron, rarely tabular on {001}; skeletal and reticulated crystals; coarse to fine granular masses; fibrous or plumose aggregates
Twinning: Spinel-law twins on {111} (contact and penetration); lamellar twinning on {114}
Optical data: Opaque; white in polished section; reflectance about 52% at 400 nm, falling to about 43% between 600 and 700 nm

Formation and use

Formation: Hydrothermal veins over a wide temperature range, contact-metamorphic (skarn) deposits and low-temperature lead-zinc deposits in limestone and dolostone; rare in pegmatites. Silver-bearing galena is almost entirely hydrothermal.
Uses: Principal ore of lead and an important source of silver; used for lead in batteries and ceramic glazes, historically for kohl, and as a point-contact detector in early crystal radios; collector's specimen.
Stability and care: Weathers to anglesite (lead sulfate) and cerussite (lead carbonate); bright faces tarnish on exposure to air; attacked by strong nitric acid.

Related minerals

Related minerals: Clausthalite (forms a solid-solution series with galena)alabanditealtaiteniningeriteoldhamite (galena group)

Sources

SRC-042 · Book
Handbook of Mineralogy - GalenaAnthony, J.W.; Bideaux, R.A.; Bladh, K.W.; Nichols, M.C. · Mineralogical Society of America
SRC-043 · Website
GalenaWikipedia
SRC-044 · Database
Galena: Mineral information, data and localities.Mindat.org (zh mirror)
SRC-048 · Website
Galena from two mining camps in North AmericaTurnstone Geological Services (turnstone.ca)

Draft data from the Provenite workbook. Check entries against the cited sources before relying on them. Photos are open-licence images from Wikimedia Commons; the author and licence are given with each photo.