Scholarly record

HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES OF PRECIOUS STONES IN THE KRUSNE HORY AND THE CESKE STREDOHORI MOUNTAINS, DEPOSIT PRESENT SITUATION AND PROTECTION

S. Kasmaee, J. Gholamnejad, A. R. YARAHMADI Bafgh

Abstract

The North-Western Bohemia region takes a unique position in the history of mining in the Czech Republic. Several ore districts are situated here, the welfare of which influenced the development of the Czech state in some periods. Some precious stones mining was also significant. Today the North-Bohemian Basin area is known for its largest Czech brown coal deposit. The history of mining has been mainly linked to three large ore districts in the North- Western Bohemia region. Jachymov is the most important one. It used to be a great deposit of Ag – Bi – Co – Ni formation created by low-temperature hydro-thermal lodes penetrating through mica schists. Silver exploitation culminated in the 16th century. Silver Jachymov taler coins have given the name to an American dollar. Krupka was the oldest ore deposit of Sn – Cu – Mo formation already known in the 13th century. Ore mineralization was related to the contact zone of granite intrusion in the Kru\vsn\'e Hory mountain range metamorphites. The tin exploitation culminated in the second half of the 15th and 16th centuries, but now the deposit is desolated. Cinovec was the last very important ore site. It was a classical Sn – W – Cu – Mo formation linked to granite intrusion into the para-series of the Kru\vsn\'e hory mountain range crystalline complex. The region of North-Western Bohemia and Southern Saxony, which includes the Czech and the Saxon part of the Kru\vsn\'e hory mountains from J\'achymov to \'Ust\'\i nad Labem and the \vCesk\'e středohoř\'\i mountains, takes a really exceptional place in the history of precious stones’ extraction. Historically significant localities of precious stones conclude two areas. The first of them presented by amethyst and jasper fields on the Kru\vsn\'e hory mountains range and slopes. One of these fields is well-known Cibou\vsov, stones of which were used in the chapels of Karl\vstejn castle by Emperor Charles IV. The topaz locality Schneckenstein is very important too. The important raw materials are deposits of garnet in the \vCesk\'e St\^uedoho\^u\'\i Mountains.

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