Mines and Museums

Sala Silver Mine (Swedish: Sala silvergruva) is a mine in Sala Municipality, in Västmanland County in Sweden. The mine was in continuous production from the 15th century until 1908. Additional mining occurred in 1950-1951 and also in 1945-1962 in the neighboring Bronäs Mine. The Sala ore is mainly known for its high silver content though the ore also contained economic amounts of lead and zinc. The…

The Samson Pit or Samson Mine (German: Grube Samson) is an historic silver mine in Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz region of central Germany. The pit has one of the oldest man engines in the world still working and it can be seen in operation during guided tours. The man engine, installed in the Samson Pit in 1837, used to be driven by the water power of the Rehberg Ditch (Rehberger Graben). The…

The Samson Pit or Samson Mine (German: Grube Samson) is an historic silver mine in Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz region of central Germany. The pit has one of the oldest man engines in the world still working and it can be seen in operation during guided tours. The man engine, installed in the Samson Pit in 1837, used to be driven by the water power of the Rehberg Ditch (Rehberger Graben). The…

Real de San Juan Bautista de Sonora was the location of one of the first silver mines in Sonora, then part of New Spain. Now ruined, it lies near to the town of Cumpas, founded in 1643 by the Jesuit missionary Egidio Monteffio. The name of Sonora seems to have first been given to the principal valley or to the San Juan Bautista mining district, and later was used for the whole province. Rich mineral…

The Santa Ana Silver Project is a proposed open pit silver mining project by the Bear Creek Mining Corporation for the Santa Ana silver deposit in Huacullani District, Chucuito Province, Puno Region in southern Peru. Bear Creek's concession to the mine was revoked in late June 2011. Bear Creek states that 63.2 million ounces of silver (proven and probable mineral reserves) are at the site, 19.7% of…

The Segen Gottes Show Mine (German: Besucherbergwerk Segen Gottes) is a show mine in the parish of Schnellingen in the municipality of Haslach in the Central Black Forest in Germany. The silver mine of Segen Gottes was first mentioned in the records in the 13th century, but is probably older. The mine was closed in the 18th century. In 1997 minining enthusiasts began opening the adits and mineshafts.…

The Silbergründle Pit (German: Grube Silbergründle) near Seebach in the Black Forest in Germany was a lead and silver mine. There is clear evidence that mining began here in the 12th or 13th century and ended around the year 1770. Since 1984 the pit has been used as a show mine. The pit developed two quartz veins, of up to 1.5 metres thickness. The host rock is Seebach granite. The veins contain…

Silver Centre is a ghost town in Timiskaming District, Northeastern Ontario, Canada, situated in South Lorrain Township. It is located approximately 35 km (22 mi) south of North Cobalt, and 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Highway 567. Silver Centre was a secondary camp to the great silver fields of Cobalt, discovered in 1903. There are no current residents in Silver Centre. It is still an active mineral…

In 1868, one of the richest veins of silver was discovered on Silver Islet,a tiny Island located at the tip of the Sibley Peninsula in Lake Superior, by the Montreal Mining Company. The company sold it in 1870 to an American, Alexander H. Sibley, who formed the Silver Islet Mining Company. The mine was extremely difficult to set up but it proved worthwhile as it ended up being one of the most successful…

The Village of Slocan, historically also known as Slocan City, is a village in the Slocan Valley of the West Kootenay region of the southeastern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located at the southern end of Slocan Lake, to the south of New Denver, which sits mid-way up the lake's eastern shore. The townsite was staked at the lower end of Slocan Lake in 1892 following massive silver strikes…

The Sullivan Mine is a now-closed conventional–mechanized underground mine located in Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada. The ore body is a complex, sediment-hosted, sedimentary exhalative deposit consisting primarily of zinc, lead, and iron sulphides. Lead, zinc, silver and tin were the economic metals produced. The deposit lies within the lower part of the Purcell Supergroup and mineralization…

The San Cristobal mine in Lipez, Potosí Department, Bolivia is an open-pit silver, lead and zinc mine near the town of San Cristóbal, Potosí. The mine, operated by Sumitomo Corporation, produces approximately 1,300 metric tons of zinc-silver concentrate and 300 tons of lead-silver concentrate per day, as of August 2010, by processing 40,000 to 50,000 tons of rock. It is one of Bolivia's largest…

Tayopa is the name of a legendary lost silver mine in the Sierra Mountains of Mexico. Many stories, legends and myths surround it as well as articles and books describing the search for it. Folklorist J. Frank Dobie devoted part of his book "Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver" to the story of this legendary lost mine.

The Temagami Occurrence is a geological occurrence in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located near the southern end of Kanichee Lake in west-central Strathy Township. It is named after Temagami, the municipality in which the occurrence is located in. Gold and silver are the occurrence's primary commodities, while arsenic, zinc and copper are secondary commodities. Felsic metavolcanic rocks and…

Mining in Greece is believed to have started in the third millennium BCE, and the earliest evidences of mining in Greece come from Thorikos. At the foot of the Mycenaean Acropolis of Thorikos (Greece), a team of mining archaeologists, discovered, in 2016 an inextricable network of galleries, shafts and chambers. About 5 kilometers of subterranean conduits dug in the marble and the limeschists of Attica…

Thundelarra is primarily an Australian gold exploration company. Gold, either in stand-alone geological settings or in association with copper, is our principal target. Copper remains an important focus too. Our portfolio also boasts prospects with discovery potential for base metal (nickel, zinc, silver, lead), uranium and graphite mineralisation. We are active in Western Australia (WA) and the Northern…

The Trethewey Mine is an abandoned silver mine in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada, located northwest of the Coniagas Mine near Sasaginaga Lake

The Wenzel Pit (German: Grube Wenzel) is a former silver mine in the Zinken Frohnbach in Oberwolfach in the Black Forest in southern Germany. The pit had its heyday in the Napoleonic era, but has been a show mine since 2001. Silver has been mined here since the early 14th century; but after several decades they could find no more and the mine was closed. Not until about 1760 was silver found again…

The West Kootenay region of British Columbia, where the city of Nelson is situated, is part of the traditional territories of the Sinixt (or Lakes) and Ktunaxa (Kutenai) peoples. Gold and silver were found in the area in 1867. Following the discovery of silver at nearby Toad Mountain in 1886, the town boomed quickly, leading to incorporation in 1897. Two railways were built to pass through Nelson.…

Zacatecas (Spanish pronunciation: [sakaˈtekas]) is a city and municipality in Mexico, and the capital and largest city of the state of Zacatecas. Located in north-central Mexico, the city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the mid-16th century. Native Americans had already known about the area's rich deposits of silver and other minerals. Due to the wealth that the mines provided, Zacatecas…