Allargentum

specimen number:
2273019

location:
Shaft 371, Schlema, Saxony, Germany

description:

Rich crystallized metallic allargentum across the top of matrix with siderite. In great condition. Fine old German classic. The specimen comes with several previous labels as shown at the end of the video.

Shaft 371, located in the Schlema-Alberoda mining district within Saxony, Germany, was one of the largest and deepest underground uranium mining operations in the world, managed by the Soviet-German joint venture SDAG Wismut. Geologically, the deposit is situated in the western Ore Mountains and consists of an exceptionally dense network of hydrothermal polymetallic veins cutting through Paleozoic metamorphic rocks, such as carbonaceous schists and skarns, adjacent to Variscan granite intrusions. The mineralization is highly complex, featuring primary uraninite (pitchblende) associated with a rich bismuth-cobalt-nickel-silver-uranium mineral suite. Sinking of Shaft 371 began in 1956, and it served as the central hoisting and extraction hub for the district from 1959 until December 1990, when all uranium production was permanently halted following German reunification to transition the site into a massive environmental remediation project.

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