Galena Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide. It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite. Galena is the main ore of lead, used since ancient times. Because of its somewhat low melting point, it was easy to liberate by smelting. It typically forms in low-temperature sedimentary deposits. In some deposits galena contains about
Primary minerals as basalt, rhyolite, andesite and obsidian) and intrusive rocks (such as granite, granodiorite, gabbro and peridotite) contain primary minerals including quartz, feldspar, plagioclase, muscovite, biotite, amphibole, pyroxene and olivine in varying concentrations. For the classical discussions of the origin of primary ores, see the two publications "Ore Deposits" (1903 and 1913). According to W.A. Tarr (1938) the primary mineral deposits are the result of direct magmatic action; he states that the splitting of magmas results in the basic igneous rocks and their accompanying group of accessory minerals formed by the first crystallization in the magma, on the one hand, and