Polybasite with Acanthite, Dolomite

specimen number:
1052483

location:
Himmelsfurst Mine, Brand-Erbisdorf, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany

description:
A very choice classic German specimen with platy metallic crystals of polybasite in groupings to almost 1.0 cm in size scattered across the top of matrix with minor acanthite in much white pearly crystallized dolomite. In good condition. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video and dates to the very early 20th century if not earlier. The specimen was obtained from one of the better-known dealers at the time Wilhelm Maucher in Munich.

The Himmelsfurst Mine, located in Saxony, Germany, is part of the historic Freiberg mining district, one of the most important silver producing regions in Europe. Mining in this area dates back to the 12th century, with extensive underground workings developed over many centuries to exploit rich hydrothermal vein deposits hosted in metamorphic and igneous rocks. The Himmelsfurst Mine was particularly known for its silver ores, along with associated lead and zinc minerals, which formed from mineralizing fluids moving through fractures and fault zones. The complex network of veins and long period of mining activity made the district a center of early mining technology and geological study. Operations continued intermittently into the 19th and early 20th centuries before eventual closure, and the locality remains significant for its role in European mining history and its diverse mineralization.

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