Epidote

specimen number:
1052757

location:
Knappenwand, Salzburg, Austria

description:

A loose lustrous deep green opaque crystal of epidote. In super condition for this Austrian classic. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video. This label gives an original acquisition date in 1903.

The Knappenwand, situated in the Untersulzbach Valley of the Hohe Tauern range within Salzburg, Austria, is a globally famous alpine locality renowned for its exceptional epidote crystals. Geologically, the deposit is a classic alpine-fissure system formed during the Alpine orogeny, where a steep tectonic fault zone cut through a complex sequence of amphibolites, epidote-schists, and gneisses. Hydrothermal fluids circulating through these fractures leached calcium, iron, and aluminum from the surrounding host rocks, precipitating long, prismatic, dark green to near-black crystals of epidote within open cavities, frequently associated with actinolite, asbestiform byssolite, apatite, and albite. Historically, the deposit was accidentally discovered by a local mountain guide in 1865, triggering immediate small-scale exploratory blasting and open-cut quarrying to extract the fine specimens. Formal, state-supported underground mining and shaft development commenced under institutional supervision around 1868 to systematically supply European museums and private collectors, with the most intensive operational period running until approximately 1903 when declining yields and extreme alpine weather conditions rendered corporate extraction economically unviable, though highly regulated seasonal artisanal specimen recovery by authorized local collectors continues under strict national park permits through 2026.

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