Fizelyite with Semseyite

specimen number:
1052827

location:
Herja Mine, Maramures Co., Romania

description:
From the original find for the species in 1913. The material was officially described around 10 years later. Metallic lath like crystals of fizelyite quite rich throughout this matrix with crystals of semseyite. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video.

The Herja mine, historically referred to as Kisbanya and located near Chiuzbaia in Maramures County, Romania, is a significant hydrothermal polymetallic deposit within the Baia Mare mining district. Geologically, the ore body consists of an extensive system of epithermal veins and breccia zones hosted by Neogene-aged volcanic rocks, primarily andesites, which intrude Paleogene sedimentary flysch sequences. Mineralization resulted from low to moderate-temperature hydrothermal fluids that filled fault fractures, depositing massive base-metal sulfides and rare sulfosalts within a quartz and carbonate gangue. The mine is noted for its complex assemblages of galena, sphalerite, stibnite, pyrrhotite, and various silver-antimony-lead sulfosalts. Underground mining at the site dates back to historical periods, with modern structured industrial extraction peaking during the twentieth century under state-operated enterprises before primary commercial operations ceased in the early 2000s.

Fizelyite is a rare lead silver antimony sulfide mineral. It typically forms within low-temperature polymetallic hydrothermal veins as a late-stage primary mineral, occurring as lead-gray to steel-gray prismatic crystals that are frequently striated. First discovered and described from the Herja mine, the mineral typically occurs in association with other complex sulfosalts such as semseyite, boulangerite, and jamesonite.

Karl Reidl was a mineral dealer based in Vienna, Austria, who was active during the early twentieth century. Operating from the city's first district, he engaged in the commercial trade, exchange, and distribution of European mineral specimens, supplying regional collectors and institutional museums with cataloged specialized material from classic Alpine and Carpathian localities.

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