Proustite

specimen number:
9273002

location:
Imiter mine, Tinghir Cercle, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco

description:

Beautiful glistening red crystals of proustite in groupings to 0.5 cm in size across the front of matrix. In excellent condition with outstanding color. A wonderful example for the species from this Moroccan locality.

The Imiter mine, situated on the northern flank of the Jbel Saghro massif within the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Tinghir Province, Morocco, is a monumental underground mining operation famed as one of the world's premier producers of silver and a legendary source of exceptional proustite specimens. Geologically, this world-class deposit represents a Neoproterozoic-age epithermal silver system tightly controlled by the seven-kilometer-long Imiter fault zone, where precious-metal mineralization is hosted within Neoproterozoic black shales, sandstones, and volcanic sequences of the Saghro and Ouarzazate groups. Intense, low-temperature hydrothermal fluid circulation precipitated highly concentrated native silver, mercury-rich silver amalgams, and primary silver sulfosalts, famously yielding magnificent, deep crimson-red, light-sensitive crystals of gemmy proustite (ruby silver) that are highly prized by international collectors. Historically, silver extraction at the site dates back to antiquity and the Middle Ages, with extensive archeological evidence of primitive trenching and smelting from the eighth century A.D. Modern industrial development began in 1969 with the founding of the Societe Metallurgique d'Imiter (SMI), which commenced formal, large-scale mechanized underground mining and commercial silver milling in 1978.

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