Stephanite

specimen number:
1052461

location:
Hodrusa-Hamre mines, Zarnovica, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

description:

Fine old time specimen with many metallic sharp hexagonal crystals of stephanite across the top of matrix. This is in really good condition. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video dating this to the early 20th century, if not the 19th century. There are many great crystals present.

The Hodrusa Hamre mining district in Slovakia is part of a historic mining region in the central Carpathian Mountains, with activity dating back to the medieval period and continuing for several centuries. The deposits are associated with hydrothermal veins hosted in volcanic and metamorphic rocks, where mineralizing fluids introduced silver, gold, and base metals. Extensive underground workings were developed to follow these veins, and the area became an important source of precious metals in Europe. Among the minerals found there is stephanite, a silver sulfide mineral that occurs as dark metallic crystals and aggregates within the ore veins. Much of the material from Hodrusa Hamre was collected during the 18th and 19th centuries, and these older specimens are considered classic examples, valued for both their historical significance and their association with one of Europes long established mining districts.

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