Moschellandsbergite with Calomel

Landsberg, formerly known as Moschellandsberg, lies within the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany and is a mercury mining district whose origins date to around 1440.  Mining continued through the centuries on the northern slope of Landsberg hill, with operations eventually ending in 1942.  The ore deposit has a varied and complex mineralogy and is the type locality for six species.  Amongst these are the minerals Moschellandsbergite and Calomel, both amalgams with the chemical formulas Ag₂Hg₃ (Moschellandsbergite) and [Hg₂]²⁺Cl₂ (Calomel).  Amalgams are compounds containing the element mercury (Hg).  Sub-1 mm crystals of sliver-white Moschellandsbergite are partly embedded in waxy layers and druses of yellowish-green Calomel covering a blocky limonite-rich matrix.  A terrific specimen of these extremely rare mercury amalgams accompanied with an old German collection label; Dr Ing H. Maucher of München and is ex. the Dr Josef Clemente Collection of southern Germany.