Siegenite with Millerite, Chalcopyrite, Galena

specimen number:
1052479

location:
Victoria Mine, Littfeld, Kreuztal, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Arnsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

description:
Bright metallic silver crystallized digenite on matrix with sprays of acicular millerite crystals and bright golden lustrous crystals of chalcopyrite. Galena is present as well. Classic old locality for the species. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video and dates to the very early 20th century. Note that the previous label gives the identity of the species as violarite. I believe this to be siegenite.

The Victoria Mine at Littfeld near Kreuztal in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, was part of the Siegerland mining district, a region with a long history of mining for iron and associated metals that dates back to at least the medieval period. The Victoria Mine itself was developed in the 19th century and operated into the early 20th century, with most activity taking place from the mid 1800s until around the 1920s when many mines in the district were closed due to changing economic conditions. The geology consists of hydrothermal vein and replacement deposits hosted in Devonian sedimentary rocks, where mineralizing fluids introduced iron along with nickel and cobalt bearing minerals. Among the notable minerals from this locality are siegenite, a nickel cobalt sulfide, and millerite, a nickel sulfide that occurs as fine acicular crystals and radiating aggregates. These minerals formed in the later stages of hydrothermal activity and are characteristic of the complex geochemistry of the Siegerland district.

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