The “La Helvecia” Pb, Zn, and Barite Deposit, Argentina

Abstract

The La Helvecia Mine (Brodtkorb and Brodtkorb 1980), contains stratabound ores of lead, zinc, and barite emplaced in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (Fig. 1). It is located some 30 km west of Guandacol in the province of La Rioja, on the western side of the Cerro Urcuschún, that has a slope of 30–40°W. This is coincident with the dip of the ore-bearing bed, sporadically exposing lead, zinc, and barium minerals over a surface of 1 km² (Fig. 2). This area was exploited for barite and for the secondary zinc minerals smithsonite and hemimorphite, from 1930–1960, without exploiting the primary sulfides. In La Helvecia mine there is a 385-m exploration gallery, a vertical shaft and a cross-cut towards the west, (Fig. 1).