Proustite & Calcite (Ref: 5903)

Probably the best Proustite crystals in the world were recovered from two localities: the famous Shaft 250 near Schlema (now Bad Schlema) in the Saxon Ore Mountains, and the renowned Chañarcillo mines in Chile. This specimen from Schacht 250 is a matrix specimen of a fissured, crystallized Calcite that is very richly studded with wonderful, blood-red Proustite crystals up to almost half a centimeter in size. The extremely well crystallized Proustite crystals have a wonderful luster and an incredible fire. I had the piece under the microscope and could see that the terminations of most crystals are perfect. Schlema’s century-old mining history ended when Uranium ore mining stopped in 1991 after the German reunification, and the dismantling as well as preservation of the numerous mining legacies in the region began. The mine building, with a total of around 4,200 km of excavated horizontal mine workings and a mined-out cavity of around 41 million cubic meters, will be allowed flooded as a natural overflow up to the Markus Semmler tunnel. The dumps will be rehabilitated and reclaimed. It is not hard to figure out that the great Proustite finds from this mining district are history and such great specimens are becoming increasingly rare, especially at reasonable prices like this one.