Rhodochrosite

specimen number:
1052798

location:
Wolf Mine, Herdorf, Daaden-Herdorf, Altenkirchen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

description:
A classic German specimen showing a crystal grouping of beautiful red translucent lustrous rhodochrosite crystals almost 2.5 cm in size on matrix. At first the lower termination appears to be damaged, but upon close inspection this is completely natural crystallization. In great condition. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video. This label provides an acquisition date of 1913.

The Wolf mine, located near Herdorf within the Daaden-Herdorf region of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is a historically significant iron ore operation situated in the northern part of the famous Siegerland-Wied mining district. Geologically, the deposit consists of deep-seated siderite veins rich in iron and manganese, along with smaller amounts of chalcopyrite and other sulfides, hosted within highly folded Lower Devonian quartzites and shales of the Rhenish Massif. Hydrothermal activity in these veins also famously produced magnificent secondary mineralizations of rhodochrosite and chalcedony. While open-cast scratching of surface ores occurred as early as the eighteenth century, formal underground development began via a specialized adit in 1834, followed by mechanized deep shaft mining starting in 1890. The industrial giant Krupp acquired the operation in 1917, but post-World War I economic turmoil forced a closure in 1925; the facility was heavily modernized and reopened in 1937, operating until the end of World War II in 1945. Final operations resumed in 1953 when the underground workings were integrated with the neighboring San Fernando mine field, with all extraction at the combined Wolf-San Fernando complex permanently ending on April 14, 1962, due to depletion of economic ore reserves.

Dr. L. Eger was a prominent Austrian natural history dealer and mineralogist based in Vienna, active from the late nineteenth century into the opening decade of the twentieth century through his commercial enterprise, Dr. L. Eger's Mineralien Comptoir. Operating from a central location on Giselastrasse, his business specialized in sourcing, documenting, and distributing high-quality mineral specimens, fossils, and educational systematic suites to major university museums, research institutions, and affluent private collectors globally. Eger maintained a highly sophisticated trade network, collaborating frequently with other legendary contemporary dealers like Dr. A. Krantz of Bonn to acquire rare European and international pieces, and even publishing mineral indexes that announced newly discovered localities or unusual mineral variants.

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