Museum area 3
" All those who have some knowledge in the mines' history should know those in Sainte-Marie… "
Monnet (18th century)
Birth of silver seams
The first mention of mine working in Sainte Marie goes back to the Xth century. It is one of the richest and oldest in the world. Mine working continued until the beginning of the XXth century in the Val d’Argent..
Silver ore naturally comes to life...
Silver seams were made from pre-existing geological layers'fractures.The opening of the fractures, caused by underground movements of the Earth's crust were favoured by the relative rigidity of the rocks. It was the case for the various gneisses that contained the most intersesting seams for the minors.The seams were irregular and sinuous, and sometimes they would just fracture in small and numerous fractures evenly scattered. The seams were slightly extended but could be very rich.
The UNDERGROUND WORLD GROWS progressively richer
Hydrothermal solutions circulated in the fractures dissolving the metallic elements contained in the old gneisses. As they came near the surface and cooled they released those dissolved elements and concentrated them in the fractures which became silver seams. Usually the seams were not constituted in a single set but were made up of several veins at the origin of ...
