Freieslebenite
specimen number:
2262103
location:
Hiendelaencina, Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
description: Hiendelaencina, located in the Guadalajara province of Spain, was the most important silver-producing district in Europe during the mid-19th century. Geologically, the area is characterized by silver-bearing hydrothermal veins hosted within a Paleozoic basement of gneiss and quartzite, where mineralization occurred primarily in quartz-rich vertical fractures during the Alpine orogeny. The district is a classic locality for freieslebenite, a rare silver lead antimony sulfosalt that occurs as metallic, lead-gray to silver-white prismatic crystals with prominent striations, often found in association with acanthite, galena, and siderite. Historically, mining and quarrying at the site began in 1844 following the discovery of the Santa Cecilia vein by Pedro Esteban Gorriz, triggering a massive silver rush that led to the development of over 200 mine shafts, including the notable San Carlos and La Fuerza mines. While the most productive era spanned from 1844 to 1925, several attempts to reprocess waste rock and tailings occurred in the late 20th century between 1980 and 1990. Today, the village of Hiendelaencina preserves its industrial heritage through a dedicated Silver Museum and a historical mining route, remaining a key reference site for researchers studying complex silver sulfosalt mineralogy through 2026.
Very fine Spanish classic with metallic crystals to 0.4 cm in size on matrix. In good condition. The specimen comes with several previous labels.
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