Acanthite

specimen number:
9507095

location:
Imiter mine, Tinghir Cercle, Tinghir, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco

description:
A superb loose bright lustrous cross shaped crystal grouping of acanthite. This is crystallized completely all around and in excellent condition. For this locality, the quality of this piece is much higher than most as this has a great luster. Most acanthite specimens from this locality are dull in luster.

The Imiter Mine, located in the Tinghir Cercle of the Draa-Tafilalet region within the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is one of the largest and most famous primary silver producers in the world, with an operational history tracing back centuries and modern industrial extraction expanding significantly since the 20th century. Geologically, the deposit is a world-class Neoproterozoic epithermal vein system hosted within regional metamorphic black shales and Precambrian volcanic sequences, localized along major structural fault zones that facilitated ancient hydrothermal fluid flow. Mineralogically, the deposit is renowned for its exceptional concentrations of native silver and silver sulfosalts, including acanthite, polybasite, and imiterite, a rare silver-mercury sulfide first discovered and named after this specific locality.

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