Cassiterite (fine twins - classic material)

Item Description

This specimen is labeled as coming from Ehrenfriedersdorf, but mindat.org does note that, "Most of the specimens labeled "Ehrenfriedersdorf" come from the nearby Sauberg Mine". With that said, we're comfortable labeling this piece as coming from the Sauberg Mine, as we've seen several other similar pieces from this locality in the past. This attractive miniature features many fine quality, well-formed, cyclic twinned crystals of dark coffee-brown to jet-black Cassiterite measuring up to 8 mm, sitting on Quartz and host rock matrix. Most of the crystals are in fine condition, though there is a contacted area on the front of the piece, so they're not all completely pristine. Ehrenfriedersdorf is one of the great old German mining districts famous for its tin deposits, and according to montanregion-erzgebirge.de, "The region around Ehrenfriedersdorf is one of the oldest medieval tin ore mining areas in Germany. Miners began extracting tin ores here in the early 13th century".
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#268 D), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection for the foreseeable future through our various platforms.