Description

This is an original, polished block of schalenblende composed of sphalerite, galena and marcasite from the Schmalgraf mine in Lontzen, Belgium.

Like Moresnet, this mine was part of the Vieille-Montagne concession. The deposit lies between the villages of Lontzen and La Calamine (in German, Kelmis). Calamine takes its name from the zinc ore known as calamine, once abundant in the subsoil of this corner of Belgium, close to the Netherlands and Germany, and mined until the end of the 19th century. A great classic of zinc mineralogy.

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