The Finstergrund Pit (german: Grube Finstergrund) near Wieden in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

is an abandoned medieval

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

that was also used in the modern era to extract fluorite and

baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

. Since 1982 it has been used as a

visitor mine A mine, i.e. an industrial facility for the underground extraction of mineral commodities, has three operating phases: it may be open or running, or closed or it may be a working museum. Most mines are simply closed once they are no longer product ...

Geology

The most important lodes in the region around Wieden are the fluorite-

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

lodes known as ''Tannenboden'', ''Anton'', ''Werner II'', ''Hoffnung'' and ''Finstergrund'', which all run in a north to south direction. The latter is 3.5 km long and the most significant hydrothermal lode in the area. The visitor mine (Gallery 5) runs along this lode for 430 metres. Its thickness varies between a few centimetres and 4 metres. About 1 metre was mined. The ore deposit is a hydrothermal

fluorspar Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

lode, in places containing rich

sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...

ores. The

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

is formed by paragneisses and migmatite.

References

Literature

* Wolfgang Werner, Volker Dennert: ''Lagerstätten und Bergbau im Schwarzwald.'' Herausgabe durch Landesamt für Geologie, Rohstoffe und Bergbau, Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 2004, .

External links

Visitor mine of Finstergrund Pit

Photographs from the Finstergrund Mine
{{coord missing, Baden-Württemberg Show mines Silver mines in Germany Former mines in Germany Tourist attractions in Baden-Württemberg Black Forest

Geology

See also

References

Literature

External links