Zinnwald-Cínovec mining region, Ore Mountains, Europei

Regional Level Types
Zinnwald-Cínovec mining region	Mining District (Planned Future Operation)
Ore Mountains	Mountain Range
Europe	Continent

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A historic mining district that has been exploited since the Late Middle Ages. It is split across the borders between Saxony, Germany (Zinnwald), and Bohemia, Czech Republic (Cinovec).

Archaeological evidence suggests that cassiterite placer deposits at Schellerhau, which received their ore minerals from one of the zinnwaldite-topaz-tin granites of the Altenberg-Teplice complex, were mined for tin as far back as the early Bronze Age (about 4,000 years ago). There was renewed mining activity from the 13th century onwards, making it potentially instrumental for the cultural and technological development of the region for millennia.

Following mining technology developments from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century, Sn was increasingly mined as cassiterite (locally called “zinngraupen”) from quartz veins and greisen associated with several of the rare metal granites of the complex. Mining took place mostly underground but in some places, like the crown hole Altenberger Pinge, also above ground.

The deposit has an estimated total resource of about 270 million metric tons (Mt) with Sn grades up to 500 μg/g. Recent interest in Li may increase the economically extractable Sn, because Sn and Li both reside in micas in large parts of the deposit, and Li grades are up to 3,200 μg/g. The proportion of Sn in mica compared to the whole rock is less than 5% in the greisen and mineralized zones but 40 to 70% in the biotite granite below the zinnwaldite granite (>735 m). In the greisen, on the other hand, micas dominate the Rb budget, with over 2 wt % Rb in zinnwaldite. Tungsten was mined intensively from the greisen between the late 19th and the late 20th centuries in the form of wolframite and scheelite. Ore grades for W are higher in the southern (Czech) part of the deposit (~200 μg/g) than in the northern (German) part.

Originally mined for tin and tungsten, whereas today Deutsche Lithium GmbH plans on producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide for the European battery market (Zinnwald Lithium Project) and potential by-products such as high-purity potassium sulfate, precipitated calcium carbonate, and tin.

Geologically, the mining district is characterized by a Li-Sn-W greisen deposit formed when the Zinnwald albite granite intruded the Teplice rhyolites (Neßler et al., 2017). According to Dittrich et al. (2020), the major part of Li-Sn-W mineralization occurs as greisen beds and veins within the granite (endocontact) and only to a lesser extent in the surrounding Teplice rhyolites (exocontact). Müller et al. (2018), after conducting thermobarometric measurements, report that the albite granite solidified at 575 ± 48 °C, the stockwork at 612 ± 12 °C, the massive greisen at 610 ± 23 °C, the flat mineralized veins at 536 ± 77 °C, and the steep mineralized veins at 516 ± 58 °C.

There are three main types of Sn-W ore (e.g., Bolduan et al., 1967; Čada and Novák, 1974):

1. Massive greisen bodies up to hundreds of meters in diameter mainly occur in the southern part of the ore deposit;

2. Flat, coarse-grained quartz-zinnwaldite veins (locally called “flöze”) with greisen selvages (normally <20 cm) mineralized by cassiterite and scheelite locally crosscut the greisen body and extend into the rhyolite;

3. Steep quartz-zinnwaldite veins (locally called "morgengänge") crosscut the flat veins. The mineralization is similar to that of the flat veins, but greisen selvages are not developed.

See also nearby Altenberg.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.

Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

152 valid minerals. 1 (TL) - type locality of valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities