Museum area 7 and underground environment
Quality and diversity of exceptional minerals
The minerals of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines are characterized by their abundance and the quality and the variety of their crystallizations. But the Val D’Argent is mostly famous for its various ores and silver in particular.
More than 150 varieties have been listed in the silver Valley.
Discovery of a half-ton-silver-block in October, one night...
The total production of silver has been estimated at about
several hundred tons.
Historical finds were reported, such as the discovery of a block of native silver in 1530, which produced one quintal of pure silver. Some samples were sent to the emperor Charles Quint. Another discovery was that of a minor called Claus Schirbald who found a block of silver weighing 592 kilogrammes.
Among the most beautiful crystals in the world
As early as in the XVIth century the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines minerals seemed to have attracted a great interest thanks to the quality of their crystalline forms.
Monnet mentionned the discovery of pure intertwined silver in the shape of very thin branches which were sold to people interested in natural history.
The minerals of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines are characterized by their abundance, the quality and the variety of their crystallizations.
The Val d’Argent is famous mostly for its various ores and silver.
Silver firstly comes in the form of native silver in clusters or filaments. The most outstanding example was that of a sample made up of a big red silver crystal in the middle of which was a pure silver branch with small crystals of the same red.
An exceptional local collection of minerals was bought from a passionate collector from the Valley thus allowing us to preserve this unique heritage. This collection will be presented to the visitors on the TELLURE site.
