Freiberg Mining Field
Encyclopedia
The Freiberg Mining Field ( or Freiberger Bergbaurevier) is an ore field
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

 which, in its widest sense, is located on an ore deposit of precious
Precious metal
A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value.Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...

 and non-ferrous metal
Non-ferrous metal
In metallurgy, a non-ferrous metal is a metal that is not ferrous, that is, any metal, including alloys, that does not contain iron in appreciable amounts...

s roughly 35 x 40 kilometres in area in the lower Eastern Ore Mountains
Eastern Ore Mountains
The Eastern Ore Mountains form a natural region that covers the eastern part of the Saxon Ore Mountains. It is part of the major landscape unit, the Saxon Highlands and Uplands...

 in the German Free State of Saxony. The mining region is centred on Freiberg
Freiberg
-Places:* Freiberg, Saxony, Germany** Freiberg , Saxony, Germany** Freiberg subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp* Freiberg am Neckar, Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany...

, but extends beyond that town's borough into the municipalities of Halsbrücke
Halsbrücke
Halsbrücke is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany....

, Hilbersdorf, Bobritzsch, Weißenborn, Oberschöna
Oberschöna
Oberschöna is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany.- References :...

and the boroughs of Brand-Erbisdorf
Brand-Erbisdorf
Brand-Erbisdorf is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 5 km south of Freiberg....

and Großschirma
Großschirma
Großschirma is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 7 km northwest of Freiberg.- References :...

. Mining has been carried out here since the last third of the 12th century. 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 (Brander Revier) immediately to the south comprises just the one mining territory, the Brander Grubenfeld.

Mining in the Freiberg area began here in the 12th century.

The most important mineral deposits
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 are the ores
Orés
Orés is a municipality in the Cinco Villas, in the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Cinco Villas. It is placed 104 km to the northwest of the provincial capital city, Zaragoza. Its coordinates are: 42° 17' N, 1° 00' W, and is...

 blue lead (galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...

), zincblende (sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...

), fool's gold (pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...

), arsenical iron (arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite
Arsenopyrite is an iron arsenic sulfide . It is a hard metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases elemental sulfur. When arsenopyrite is heated, it becomes magnetic and gives off toxic fumes...

), argentiferous grey copper ore (freibergite
Freibergite
Freibergite is a complex sulfosalt mineral of silver, copper, iron, antimony and arsenic with formula 124S13. It has cubic crystals and is formed in hydrothermal deposits. It forms one solid solution series with tetrahedrite and another with argentotennantite. Freibergite is an opaque, metallic...

), red silver ore
Red silver ore
Red silver ore is an old mining term and may refer to either:* Proustite, a mineral * Pyrargyrite, a mineral...

s
and silver glance. The most important non-metallic materials are: quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...

, calcareous spar (calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...

), heavy spar (baryte) and fluorspar (fluorite
Fluorite
Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...

).

Within this mining region there were, historically, a large number of smelteries and, even today, there are still various active smelting works, for example, in Muldenhütten.
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