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Chah Kharboze Mine (Tchah-Kharboze Mine; Chah-Karbuzeh Mine), Chah Kharboze (Tchah-Kharboze), Anarak District, Nain County, Isfahan Province, Irani
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
33° 29' 3'' North , 53° 48' 3'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
A Pb-Zn mine. A lead mine that produced 3 tons ore/day & ½ ton Pb/day (1947).
The most famous Iranian wulfenites, with gemmy, blood-red crystals on a white or pale green coloured matrix (Mir-Mohammedi, 1977; Hairapetian et al. 2015; Cairoli and Weiß, 2017), came from the historical Chah-Kharboze mine (Tchah-Kharbuze), 6 kilometres south of the Nakhlak mine.
The mining history of the region comprising the Chah-Kharboze mine dates back to the Sassanid time (224-650 AD). Modern mining operations started in 1946-47 but eventually ceased due to low mineral potential in the late 1960s. These must have been exciting times, as it is known that numerous wulfenite crystals were filling small pockets and fissures near the water table. Local women were employed in the mine to collect these wulfenite crystals from the walls and bag them for shipment as lead ore (Bariand in Bideaux, 1990).
The Chah-Kharboze mine is now reported to be almost exhausted and is extremely dangerous and very hard to access through its 110-meter deep shaft. Horizontal workings were done at 90 meters depth (Cherepovsky, Chinakov and Kokorin, 1981). In general, few specimens were kept aside for collections and survived the early times. Fine specimens from this mine are consequently a rare sight in most collections.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Aragonite Formula: CaCO3 |
| ⓘ Calcite Formula: CaCO3 References: |
| ⓘ Cerussite Formula: PbCO3 |
| ⓘ Galena Formula: PbS References: |
| ⓘ Hemimorphite Formula: Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| ⓘ Mimetite Formula: Pb5(AsO4)3Cl |
| ⓘ Pyromorphite Formula: Pb5(PO4)3Cl References: |
| ⓘ Wulfenite Formula: Pb(MoO4) |
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
| Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
| ⓘ | Calcite | 5.AB.05 | CaCO3 |
| ⓘ | Aragonite | 5.AB.15 | CaCO3 |
| ⓘ | Cerussite | 5.AB.15 | PbCO3 |
| Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
| ⓘ | Wulfenite | 7.GA.05 | Pb(MoO4) |
| Group 8 - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates | |||
| ⓘ | Mimetite | 8.BN.05 | Pb5(AsO4)3Cl |
| ⓘ | Pyromorphite | 8.BN.05 | Pb5(PO4)3Cl |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| ⓘ | Hemimorphite | 9.BD.10 | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| C | Carbon | |
| C | ⓘ Aragonite | CaCO3 |
| C | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| C | ⓘ Cerussite | PbCO3 |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Aragonite | CaCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Cerussite | PbCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| O | ⓘ Mimetite | Pb5(AsO4)3Cl |
| O | ⓘ Pyromorphite | Pb5(PO4)3Cl |
| O | ⓘ Wulfenite | Pb(MoO4) |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| P | Phosphorus | |
| P | ⓘ Pyromorphite | Pb5(PO4)3Cl |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
| Cl | Chlorine | |
| Cl | ⓘ Mimetite | Pb5(AsO4)3Cl |
| Cl | ⓘ Pyromorphite | Pb5(PO4)3Cl |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Aragonite | CaCO3 |
| Ca | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| Zn | Zinc | |
| Zn | ⓘ Hemimorphite | Zn4Si2O7(OH)2 · H2O |
| As | Arsenic | |
| As | ⓘ Mimetite | Pb5(AsO4)3Cl |
| Mo | Molybdenum | |
| Mo | ⓘ Wulfenite | Pb(MoO4) |
| Pb | Lead | |
| Pb | ⓘ Cerussite | PbCO3 |
| Pb | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
| Pb | ⓘ Mimetite | Pb5(AsO4)3Cl |
| Pb | ⓘ Pyromorphite | Pb5(PO4)3Cl |
| Pb | ⓘ Wulfenite | Pb(MoO4) |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
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References
Bariand, Pierre (1963) Contribution à la minéralogie de l'Iran. Bulletin de Minéralogie, 86 (1) 17-64 doi:10.3406/bulmi.1963.5609
Bideaux, Richard A. (1990) Featured Mineral at the 1990 Tucson Show:The Desert Mineral WULFENITE. Rocks & Minerals, 65 (1) 11-30 doi:10.1080/00357529.1990.9926437
Bariand, P. (2008) Mémoires d’ un Minéralogiste sans Frontières. Le Règne Minéral, Paris. 144 pages.
Chah Kharboze Mine, Chah Kharboze, Anarak District, Nain County, Isfahan Province, Iran