Sphalerite

specimen number:
2133303

location:
Wiesloch, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

description:
A slabbed and polished section of botryoidal sphalerite. The specimen comes with a previous label, note that this erroneously calls the species wurtzite

The municipality of Wiesloch, located on the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine Plain in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, has a rich industrial history deeply tied to its local geology. The area features extensive Mississippi Valley-Type deposits of carbonate-hosted lead-zinc-silver ores embedded in the Middle Triassic limestone layers of the Upper Muschelkalk formation, along with regional deposits of clay and sand near major fault zones. Mining activities in the region began during Roman times and expanded significantly during the Middle Ages, with heavy metal extraction primarily focused on silver, lead, and zinc. Industrial-scale heavy metal mining continued until 1953 when the last major deep mine, Gottes Segen, operated by Stolberger Zink at the Schafbuckel shaft, officially closed. Concurrently, extensive quarrying for clay and sand took place to feed large industrial production facilities, notably the Tonwaren-Industrie Wiesloch brickworks, which extracted raw clay from local pits from 1895 until its eventual closure in 1989.

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