Silver with Arsenic

specimen number:
8911143

location:
Pohla-Tellerhauser Mine, Pohla, Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany

description:
Very rich dendritic twinned crystals of native silver, some of them to 1.0 cm in length, across the top of a gray massive native arsenic matrix. In great condition. Classic material for the species and locality. The specimen comes with a previous label from the Alton collection which notes that previously the specimen was part of the collection of Chester Lemanski.

Located in the historic Schwarzenberg mining district of the Ore Mountains in Saxony, Germany, the Pohla-Tellerhaeuser Mine represents a notable twentieth-century polymetallic deposit developed primarily during uranium exploration by the Wismut company. Geological activity in the region produced complex skarn and hydrothermal mineralization within Precambrian metamorphic host rocks, creating rich zones of iron, tin, and silver along with distinct secondary minerals. Mining operations in the Pohla sector expanded rapidly in the latter half of the 1900s, revealing exceptional mineralized cavities that yielded outstanding specimens of native silver, silver sulfides, and lustrous dark cassiterite crystals. Following the cessation of underground mining in the early 1990s, the locality gained high acclaim among mineral collectors for its sharp crystal groups and aesthetic combination specimens, making historic pieces from Pohla highly sought after in modern collections.

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