Galena

Description

Galena (PbS), aka Lead Glance, is the most important ore for Lead, and an important source for Silver. The official state mineral of Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin, it’s also the reason why you can visit the city of Galena, Illinois. Lead is a heavy metal, so you shouldn’t eat or inhale this rock, or put its dust near your eyes like the Egyptians did. You can smelt this over a wood fire, so it’s been used by our ancestors for a very long time; not only did the Romans melt it to make their pipes, but it’s been found to have been worked 3,000 years before them, even! Nowadays, this is melted for bullets, those vests they put on you for xrays, and for everything else in the diminishing list in life where Lead is used. You’ll find Galena in many places around the globe, typically near volcanic rock, or you can bring this one home!