Acanthite

specimen number:
2273017

location:
Mineral del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico

description:

Very choice locality example for the species with metallic sharp crystals of acanthite measuring to 0.9 cm in size on a crystallized calcite covered matrix. The specimen comes with several old antique labels as shown at the end of the video, this is previously from the collection of a W.H. Pease.

Mineral del Monte, also known historically as Real del Monte, located in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, is one of the most prolific silver mining districts in the Americas. Geologically, the deposit consists of low-sulfidation epithermal vein systems hosted within a thick sequence of Tertiary volcanic rocks, primarily andesites and dacites, where structural faulting created conduits for rich silver-base metal mineralization including acanthite, native silver, galena, and sphalerite. Silver extraction began in the pre-Hispanic era and was heavily expanded by Spanish colonizers in the sixteenth century, reaching peak production in the eighteenth century under the Count of Regla. In 1824, a consortium of British miners from Cornwall took over operations, introducing Cornish steam-pumping technology and working the mines until 1849, after which ownership reverted to Mexican and later American interests. Industrial-scale underground extraction continued under various operators through most of the twentieth century until primary operations scaled back significantly in the late 1900s.

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