Tetrahedrite with Galena

Unknown Owner

This example shows lustrous metallic crystals of tetrahedrite measuring to 0.8 cm in size on matrix with crystallized galena. Very minimal damage present, I think expected on such an antique specimen as this. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video and dates to the early 20th century if not earlier. Mining around Horhausen, in the Altenkirchen district of Rhineland Palatinate in western Germany, has a very long history tied to the iron rich Horhauser Gangzug (Horhausen vein train). Small open cast workings for iron ore and brown ironstone go back at least to the early Middle Ages, and by 1338 iron ore mining in the area is recorded in historic documents. Over the centuries the ore was processed in nearby smelters and, from the 1800s onward, mines such as Grube Georg at Willroth and Grube Friedrich Wilhelm at Huf grew into deeper underground operations producing iron ore, manganese bearing siderite and associated metals. Modern mining continued into the 20th century, with the Georg Mine operating until 1965, after which mining ceased and many of the old workings became part of the region's industrial heritage.