Erythrite

specimen number:
2063849

location:
Schneeberg, Saxony, Germany

description:
Bright purple red crystallized erythrite embedded throughout a massive quartz matrix. Very good reference example for this old Germany classic. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Located in the Ore Mountains of Saxony, Germany, Schneeberg is a historic mining district famous for its rich vein-type deposits formed by hydrothermal fluid activity along complex fault systems. Silver mining began in the mid-fifteenth century, leading to a major boom following the discovery of massive native silver masses in the late 1400s. As silver reserves waned, focus shifted to cobalt and bismuth, making Schneeberg a primary European source of smalt pigment and cobalt blue for centuries. Arsenic, nickel, and later uranium were also extensively extracted during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The diverse geochemistry of these polymetallic veins allowed an extraordinary variety of secondary arsenate minerals to form, establishing Schneeberg as a premier locality in classic mineralogy and the type origin for numerous iconic mineral species.

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