Where to Find Calcite in Missouri

Missouri is one of the great calcite states in the world, and most collectors aim at two settings. The Sweetwater and Brushy Creek mines on the Viburnum Trend in Reynolds and Iron counties produce honey-amber, doubly-terminated calcite scalenohedrons up to a foot across, often with fluorite, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite associates. The Tri-State chat fields around Joplin (Jasper and Newton counties) add white and translucent dogtooth and nailhead calcite on dolomite matrix. Specimens from the Buick and West Fork mines, when they reach the market, are among the most sought calcites in U.S. mineralogy.