Description
This is a beautiful rhodochrosite & arsenopyrite cluster is from the famous Trepca Mine complex in the Trepca Valley in Kosovo.
58 x 45 x 25 mm. 96 grams.
The history of the Trepca Mines traces back the Middle Ages. Modern operations began with the establishment of Trepca Mining and Metallurgical Complex in the 1920s.
After World War II, the communist government nationalized all privately-held companies in Yugoslavia, including Trepca, and turned them into state-owned enterprisers.
The mine effectively went out of production as a result of the 1999 Kosovo war with Serbia. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but the future of the TrepÄa mining complex remained uncertain throughout most of the 2000s and it fell into a state of disrepair.
The huge mining complex was put under government control in 2016 to save it from bankruptcy, and mining operations continue today.
Our supplier obtains the pieces directly from the operating mines.