Mineral Point, Wisconsin his family who settled a few miles away from Mineral Point. During the following year, large quantities of galena, or lead ore, were discovered around the settlement in shallow deposits. Lead had many uses at the time, and settlers began to flock to the region hoping to make a living by extracting the easily accessible mineral. Lead deposits extended throughout an area that also included Dubuque, Iowa and Galena, Illinois, but Mineral Point became the center of lead mining operations within the bounds of present-day Wisconsin (then part of Michigan Territory). By 1829, the region's growing population led to the
Mineral surface, with regards to its quality and intensity. There are numerous qualitative terms used to describe this property, which are split into metallic and non-metallic categories. Metallic and sub-metallic minerals have high reflectivity like metal; examples of minerals with this lustre are galena and pyrite. Non-metallic lustres include: adamantine, such as in diamond; vitreous, which is a glassy lustre very common in silicate minerals; pearly, such as in talc and apophyllite; resinous, such as members of the garnet group; silky which is common in fibrous minerals such as asbestiform chrysotile. The diaphaneity of a mineral describes the ability of light