Rock and Mineral Display - Wallice, Idaho
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 47° 28.687 W 115° 56.016
11T E 580347 N 5258849
At the Wallace Chamber of Commerce there is this rock and mineral display, also there are sign boards and other interesting displays all outside so you can visit at any time.
Waymark Code: WMXTCK
Location: Idaho, United States
Date Posted: 02/24/2018
Views: 2
The Wallace Chamber of Commerce is well worth a visit, not only for local information the outside displays are fantastic. In addition to the Rock and Mineral display there are signboards about local mining history and the disasters that happened, also are machinery and other mining tools on display. There is a large sculpture, several memorials and even a time capsule. Enjoy your visit.
There are eight display boxes with an assortment of different types of rock and minerals from the area, mostly to do with mining.
The geological formations in this region are between 1400 million to 1500 million years old.
In a process somewhat similar to the geological activity in present day Yellowstone park, it is believed that mineral solutions were forced up through faults in existing rock formations and formed mineral deposits as they cooled.
The graph at the bottom and explanation below depict those formations and the type of rock found within them.
This mining region has produced over one billion troy ounces of silver, millions of tons of lead, zinc, and copper, plus lesser amounts of gold, antimony, cadmium, and other trace metals.
Primary ore minerals mined in the silver valley are galena (silver and lead), Sphalerite (zinc) and Tetrahedrite (silver and copper).
Many geologists believe that there is as much mineral remaining in the ground locally as has been mined. They also expect that the increasing costs of extraction will someday result in some mineral remaining in the ground after operations eventually become unprofitable.
Transcribed from Sign
