Detailed information
Species
Sphalerite, Calcite
Dimensions
69 x 36 x 17
mm
Locality
Diepenlinchen Mine Mausbach, Stolberg, Aachen North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Condition
No recorded repairs
A very good miniature of well crystallised, creamy-fawn translucent Calcite mostly covering a thin bed of brown and dark grey banded Sphalerite, variety Schalenblende. This specimen is from the Diepenlinchen mine at Mausbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This was one of the most important mines in this lead-zinc ore field and was originally worked during the Roman occupation in the 2nd century AD. The Calcite forms slightly elongated rhombic crystals in the dog tooth habit, with a greasy to waxy lustre. The Schalenblende displays good banding beneath the specimen, with its upper display surface encrusted in deep clove-brown micro-crystals. The specimen is accompanied with a nice old German handwritten label in elegant copperplate script.