Beryozovskoye deposit, Berezovskoe gold deposit, Berezovsky deposit, Berezovsk Mines, and some other names is the first known primary deposit of gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It is located 13 km northwest of Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...

 in the central Urals Federal District

Urals Federal District

Ural Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. The district was established on 13 May 2000 by a decree of the President of Russia. The district is mostly located in the geographical region of Ural, but also includes some parts of the Volga Region; its extent is different...

. It was discovered in 1745 by a raskolnik Yerofey Markov. The first mine was established in 1747. The deposit is named after the Beryozovka River (a tributary of Pyshma River

Pyshma River

Pyshma is a river in Sverdlovsk and Tyumen Oblasts of Russia. It is a tributary of the Tura, and is 603 km long, with a drainage basin of 19 700 km²....

) and is associated with the settlement of Berezovsky, now the town of Beryozovsky, Sverdlovsk Oblast

Beryozovsky, Sverdlovsk Oblast

Beryozovsky is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Beryozovka River , northeast of Yekaterinburg. Population: Municipally, it is incorporated as Beryozovsky Urban Okrug ....

.

The following minerals were discovered at the deposit: aikinite

Aikinite

Aikinite is a sulfide mineral of lead, copper and bismuth with formula PbCuBiS3. It forms black to grey or reddish brown acicular orthorhombic crystals with a Mohs hardness of 2 to 2.5 and a specific gravity of 6.1 to 6.8. It was originally found in 1843 in the Beryozovskoye deposit, Ural...

 (1789), vauquelinite

Vauquelinite

Vauquelinite is a complex mineral with the formula CuPb2CrO4PO4OH making it a combined chromate and phosphate of copper and lead. Discovered in 1818 in the Beryozovskoye deposit, Urals, Russia, it is named after Louis Vauquelin , a French chemist....

 (1819), cassedanneite (1988), crocoite

Crocoite

Crocoite is a mineral consisting of lead chromate, PbCrO4, and crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system. It is sometimes used as a paint, being identical in composition with the artificial product chrome yellow. It was discovered at Berezovsky deposit near Ekaterinburg in the Urals in 1766;...

 (1766), pyrophyllite

Pyrophyllite

Pyrophyllite is a phyllosilicate mineral composed of aluminium silicate hydroxide: Al2Si4O102. It occurs in two more or less distinct varieties, namely, as crystalline folia and as compact masses; distinct crystals are not known....

 (1829), phenicochroite (1839), embreyite (1972).

The discovery of crocoite by Johann Gottlob Lehmann in 1766 at the Berezovsk Mines was the starting point of the discovery of the element chromium

Chromium

Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...

. Berezovsk Mines were for a long time the only source for crocoite and therefore the only source of the pigment chrome yellow

Chrome yellow

Chrome Yellow is a natural yellow pigment made of lead chromate . It was first extracted from the mineral crocoite by the French chemist Louis Vauquelin in 1809...

.