Galena of Missouri and Wisconsin; the former mining communities of Galena, Kansas and Galena, Illinois take their names from deposits of this mineral. The largest documented crystal of galena is composite cubo-octahedra from the Great Laxey Mine, Isle of Man, measuring . Galena belongs to the octahedral sulfide group of minerals that have metal ions in octahedral positions, such as the iron sulfide pyrrhotite and the nickel arsenide niccolite. The galena group is named after its most common member, with other isometric members that include manganese bearing alabandite and niningerite. Divalent lead (Pb) cations and sulfur (S) anions form a close-packed
Mineral processing is not completely known and further research into their mechanisms is being performed. Depressants and activators are used to selectively separate one mineral from another. Depressants inhibit the flotation of one mineral or minerals while activators enable the flotation of others. Examples of these include CN, used to depress all sulfides but galena and this depressant is believed to operate by changing the solubility of chemisorbed and physisorbed collectors on sulfides. This theory originates from Russia. An example of an activator is Cu ions, used for the flotation of sphalerite. There are a number of cells able to be used