Petersbach Mine, Eichelhardt, Wissen, Siegerland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

The iron and base metal ore deposit of the Petersbach mine belongs to the Siegerland-Wied siderite district. The mine was situated near the township of Eichelhardt approx. 7 km south of Wissen. First time mentioned in the 17th century, the early workings were on Pb and Ag ore. A significant period lasted 1780 to 1811 when mainly base metal ores were mined. Due to the exceptional suitability of the iron ore for the production of Spiegeleisen, a ferromanganese alloy containing up to 20 % manganese and small quantities of carbon and silicon, the mine was claimed again in 1823 (for "Stahlstein") and worked until 1890, when Spiegeleisen became more and more obsolete due to newly developed techniques in the production of iron and steel.
In the same year the mine was purchased by the Wissener Eisenhütten AG. At the turn of the century this company had to extended its ore basis and in 1901 a new shaft was sunk. During the 1930s the exhaustion of the ore reserves became more and more evident and finally in 1937 the mine was closed. Reaching a depth of 1025 m, the mine was one of the deepest ore mines in the Siegerland.

From 1780 to 1937 a total of 2.36 million tons of siderite ore, and from 1811 to 1937 4300 t of copper ore, 11540 t of Pb ore, 4830 t of Zinkblende (sphalerite) and 107 t of Ni ore were mined.

The mineralization is of hydrothermal vein type in devonian (meta-)sedimentary rocks (Upper to Lower Siegen) and consists of siderite veins with quartz gangue and base metal sulfide ores especially at the upper levels of the mine. Laspeyres describes "Antimonnickelglanz" (Ullmannite) and Millerite from the Petersbach mine in his 1893 article about Nickel mineral occurrences of the Rhineland and Westphalia region. The millerite finds were among the best of the Siegerland and crystals reached up to 8 cm lenght.

References:
- H. Laspeyres (1893): Das Vorkommen und die Verbreitung des Nickels im Rheinischen Schiefergebirge. - Naturh. Ver. preuss. Rhei., 50, 142-272 and 375-518.
- A. Hoffmann (1964): Beschreibung rheinland-pfälzischer Bergamtsbezirke - Band 1 Bergamtsbezirk Betzdorf. - Verlag Glückauf, Essen.
- H.-G. Koch (1982): Erzväter - Berg- und Hüttenleute im Siegerland und Westerwald. - Verlag Gudrun Koch, Siegen.
- S. Weiß (1990): Atlas der Mineralfundstellen in Deutschland-West. - Christian Weise-Verlag, München.
- Wagner, T., and Cook, N.J. (2000): Late-Variscan antimony mineralisation in the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, NW Germany: evidence for stibnite precipitation by drastic cooling of high-temperature fluid systems. Mineralium Deposita 35, 206-222.