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The Freiberg Mining Field (german: Freiberger Revier or ''Freiberger Bergbaurevier'') is an ore field which is located on an ore deposit of precious and
The Freiberg Mining Field (german: Freiberger Revier or ''Freiberger Bergbaurevier'') is an ore field which is located on an ore deposit of precious and non-ferrous metal
In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron ( allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts.
Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable prope ...
s roughly 35 x 40 kilometres in area in the lower Eastern Ore Mountains of Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, Germany. Mining has been carried out here since the last third of the 12th century. Parts of this region, along with other nearby sites in the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2019 because of its testimony of continuous extraction for centuries and its status as the nexus for many technological developments in ore mining.
The mining region, in the broadest sense, is centred on Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage ...
, but extends beyond that town's borough into the municipalities of Halsbrücke, Hilbersdorf
Hilbersdorf is a German municipality in the Thuringian district of Greiz. It belongs to the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Wünschendorf/Elster and lies in upper Wipsetal.
Geography
From Hilbersdorf, one can reach Gera, Linda bei Weida, and Ronne ...
, Bobritzsch, Weißenborn, Oberschöna and the boroughs of Brand-Erbisdorf
Brand-Erbisdorf () is a small town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 5 km south of Freiberg. As of 2020, the town has a population of 9,145.
History
The town is first mentioned in 1209 as ''Erlwinesberc ...
and Großschirma
Großschirma is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 7 km northwest of Freiberg. It was formed from the administrative union of the municipality of Großschirma and the town of Siebenlehn, including t ...
. In a narrower sense the name refers to the area covered by the Freiburg and Halsbrück mining territories (Freiberger and Halsbrücker Grubenfelder). The Brand Mining Field () immediately to the south comprises just the one mining territory, the ''Brander Grubenfeld''.
The most important mineral deposits
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
are the ores
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April ...
blue lead (galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cry ...
), zincblende (sphalerite
Sphalerite (sometimes spelled sphaelerite) is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in sedimentary exhalative, Mississippi-Va ...
), fool's gold (pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...
), arsenical iron (arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite (International Mineralogical Association, IMA List of mineral symbols, symbol: Apy) is an iron arsenic sulfide (FeAsS). It is a hard (Mohs scale of mineral hardness, Mohs 5.5-6) metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral wi ...
), argentiferous grey copper ore (freibergite
Freibergite is a complex sulfosalt mineral of silver, copper, iron, antimony and arsenic with formula . It has cubic crystals and is formed in hydrothermal deposits. It forms one solid solution series with tetrahedrite and another with ar ...
), dark-red silver ores (Pyrargyrite
Pyrargyrite is a sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfantimonite, Ag3SbS3. Known also as dark red silver ore or ruby silver, it is an important source of the metal.
It is closely allied to, and isomorphous with, the corresponding sulfars ...
), and silver glance
In mineralogy, argentite (from the Latin ''argentum'', silver) is cubic silver sulfide (Ag2S), which can only exist at temperatures above 173 °C, 177 °C or 179 °C. When it cools to ordinary temperatures it turns into its monocli ...
. The most important non-metallic materials are: quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
, calcareous spar (calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scra ...
), heavy spar (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), ...
) and fluorspar (fluorite
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 sca ...
).Otfried Wagenbreth, Eberhard Wächtler et al.: ''Der Freiberger Bergbau Technische Denkmale und Geschichte'', 1st ed., Deutscher Verlag für Grundstoffindustrie Leipzig 1985, .
Mining in the Freiberg area began here in the 12th century. This includes a steadily developed water supply system for the benefit of the mining industry, the Revierwasserlaufanstalt Freiberg The ''Revierwasserlaufanstalt Freiberg'' (approximately: "Freiberg Mines Water Management System") or RWA Freiberg, was a historical water management system that delivered driving water to the Freiberg mines in the time of the German Electorate and ...
. Within this mining region there were, historically, a large number of smelteries
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
and, even today, there are still various active smelting works, for example in .
References