Detailed information
Species
Proustite, Pyrargyrite
Dimensions
27 x 39 x 24
mm
Weight
14 g
Locality
Pöhla-Tellerhäuser Mine Schwarzenberg District Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany
Condition
No recorded repairs
The Pöhla-Tellerhäuser mine is a relatively modern mine in comparison to the ancient silver mines across what is known as the Ore Mountains in Saxony, Germany. Commenced after World War 2 as a large uranium mine the deposit required considerable tunneling to reach, passing through a separate deposit of tin ore and presumably also silver-bearing veins. This small miniature sized crystallized silver sulphosalt specimen from Pöhla-Tellerhäuser mine is labelled as Proustite, but its dark colour and prominent resinous lustre indicate that it might well be the antimony analogue - Pyrargyrite. Specimens of any crystallized silver sulphosalts are rare from Pöhla-Tellerhäuser mine making this an unusual piece. There is some damage to a few of the crystals - some of which may well be natural etching - but at least one very nicely formed 7, to 8 mm wide crystal sits up and displays well on its creamy-white matrix.