History · Geology
About Siegerland District
The Siegerland district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is the type-quality source of crystallized lepidocrocite — the rare ruby-red orthorhombic dimorph of FeO(OH). The district was a major European iron producer from the Middle Ages to the 1960s.
Geology
The deposits are Variscan hydrothermal siderite-hematite vein systems in Devonian shales and slates of the Rhenish Massif. Late-stage oxidation produced spectacular lepidocrocite, goethite, and limonite paragenesis.
Notable Minerals
Lepidocrocite (ruby-red translucent micaceous flakes — type-quality), siderite (golden brown rhombohedra), hematite (specularite roses), goethite (botryoidal), quartz (often included with lepidocrocite as “fire quartz”), calcite, pyrite, tetrahedrite. Eisern, Wingertshardt and Storch & Schöneberg pits are historic collector sources.
Collector Notes
Siegerland lepidocrocite is the species standard. Old “Eisern” specimens from 19th-century mining are 19th-century European mineralogical heirlooms.
Minerals Produced Here
- Agate (玛瑙)
- Amethyst (紫水晶)
- Calcite (方解石)
- Chalcedony (玉髓)
- Citrine (黄水晶)
- Goethite (针铁矿)
- Hematite (赤铁矿)
- Jasper (碧玉)
- Lepidocrocite (纤铁矿)
- Pyrite (黄铁矿)
- Quartz (石英 / 水晶)
- Rose Quartz (玫瑰石英)
- Siderite (菱铁矿)
- Tetrahedrite (黝铜矿)
