Minerals from Czechia

Czechia has a long and well-documented history of mining, especially in the Bohemian Massif and Ore Mountains. Many localities are of historical interest and have produced classic specimens for European collectors.

The Příbram mining district is probably the best-known mineral locality in the country. It has yielded a wide range of secondary lead, silver, and uranium minerals, including fine specimens of galena, cerussite, and proustite. Some old specimens also include native silver and acanthite.

Jáchymov (formerly Joachimsthal) is another historically significant site, especially for uranium minerals. It’s the type locality for several species, including uraninite and autunite. Many of these specimens were collected before modern radiation safety standards and often appear in older European museum collections.

There are also deposits of garnet in Bohemia, where small but vivid red pyrope crystals have been historically cut into jewellery. These are not often seen as natural specimens but do occasionally appear in micromount collections.

Fluorite, quartz, barite, and siderite are found across several mining areas, particularly in the Ore Mountains and in the area around Kutná Hora, which has been mined since medieval times.

Labelling on older material may use German or Latin locality names, and many localities have changed names since the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and later Czechoslovakia.

Due to its long history of mining, Czechia is the type locale for a huge amount of minerals, over 150!

Some of the best known originally discovered in the country are Bornite, Fluorite, Mixite, Pyrope (garnet), and Uraninite.

Czechia