Strontioginorite

specimen number:
9302310

location:
Kohnstein Quarry, Niedersachswerfen, Harztor, Nordhausen, Thuringia, Germany

description:

A wonderful example for this rare mineral with colorless gemmy crystals measuring to 2.5 cm in length on matrix. In good condition.

The Kohnstein Quarry, located near Niedersachswerfen in the municipality of Harztor, Nordhausen district, Thuringia, Germany, is a massive industrial mineral operation primarily known for extracting high-purity gypsum and anhydrite. Geologically, the deposit sits within the thick sedimentary sequences of the Werra Anhydrite, which formed during the evaporation of the ancient Permian Zechstein Sea. The Kohnstein hill itself is largely composed of these sulfate rocks, which exhibit complex karst features and subterranean cave systems created by localized groundwater dissolution. Industrial-scale quarrying began at the site in July 1917 under the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (BASF) to supply raw materials for chemical production. During World War II, the quarry's extensive underground tunnels were infamously expanded using forced labor to house the Mittelwerk V-2 rocket assembly factory. Following the war, surface quarrying operations resumed under East German state control and were later privatized after German reunification. The site continues to actively produce industrial anhydrite and plaster products into the twenty-first century.

Strontioginorite is a rare strontium boron mineral that typically forms as an evaporite or secondary alteration product in complex salt deposits. It occurs as small, colorless to white prismatic crystals or monoclinic plates embedded within massive gypsum and anhydrite matrices. The mineral was first discovered and described in 1959 from subsurface core samples and workings within the Kohnstein Quarry deposit.

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