Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerlandi

Regional Level Types
Lengenbach Quarry	Quarry (Active)
Fäld	Village
Binn	Municipality
Goms	District
Valais	Canton
Switzerland	Country

Lengenbach Quarry,Binn Valley, Valais, Switzerland

World-famous metamorphosedarsenic sulphosalt/sulphidedeposit in sugary Triassicdolomite.

Currently mined for specimens (in summer only). Located about 1 km southeast of Fäld.

For news on the current state of research, see the official website of the Lengenbach Research Association (FGL,Forschungsgemeinschaft Lengenbach),https://fglb.clubdesk.ch/clubdesk/www

Opened ca. 1850 according to the French-language Wikipedia page (but this appears to be incorrect according to other information?).

Early history of the quarry (translated from Stalder et al. (1968)):

The first exploration of what would later become the Lengenbach quarry dates from the first half of the 18th century. At the time,iron was mined in the Binn valley. In 1728, the district commissioner (Landrat) of Wallis ordered governor (Landeshauptmann) J.-G. Courten to find experts to research and exploit theiron deposits in the Binn valley. 2 years later, Mandel and Aston, 2 Englishmen living in Paris (France), received the concession to exploit theiron deposits in the Binn valley. They discovered the richpyriteveins indolomite at Lengenbach and dug an exploratory tunnel (the Engländerstollen). Franz Jentsch unexpectedly rediscovered this tunnel in 1902 while drilling.

However, the locals opposed the lease contract with the Englishmen because the latter were not catholic and rose up against them, so much so that in 1732 the district commissioner (Landrat) cancelled the lease contract.

It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that mineralogists discovered several minerals that were new to science at the time on the dump of the Engländerstollen.

In the second half of the 19th century, pastor Theodor Walpen was living in Binn. He was greatly interested in minerals, and also had some knowledge of them. He also saw an additional earning potential for the not exactly wealthy locals in the collection and sale of mineral specimens. The aforementioned mineralogists notified the pastor of thedolomite occurrence at Lengenbach.

In 1900, Walpen suggested the founding of theDolomit-Aktiengesellschaft ("Dolomite Public Company"), which started the exploitation of the minerals at Lengenbach. Only men from Binn participated in the company, such as the brothers Franz and Leopold Jentsch, Anton Imhof (father of Joseph Imhof), and Leopold Tenisch. Franz Jentsch identified and appraised the specimens, Anton Imhof was the quarry manager, Leopold Tenisch was the blacksmith (the company had its own forge) and cook, and Leopold Jentsch was the accountant. While the company wasn't that large, it kept 8 men busy (miners and other workers). The technical expense at the time was also modest; the rock cutting machine, which had been donated to the company by a certain Dr. Krantz from Germany, is still in use today [i.e. in 1968]. Drilling was done by hand. […] Blasting was still done with black powder, more rarely with dynamite. Blasting with black powder wasn't easy, because one always had to take care that the drill hole was dry. The rubble (around 99%) was removed with wooden wheelbarrows and gutters. […] Water was also pumped from the quarry by hand. Mineral specimens were transported daily to the hamlet of Giessen and offered for sale. Most of the specimens ended up abroad, as they were bought by Englishmen. Only the University of Freiburg im Üechtland had an excellent collection at the time. The return was much greater than it is today, because the price of mineral specimens from Lengenbach has largely remained the same, whereas workers' wages were 20 to 30 times lower at the time. […]

The quarry had its heyday from 1900 to 1912.

Work ceased during the First World War due to difficulties in sales. The quarry fell into decline, and rock slides and avalanches filled it up with all sorts of rubble.

In 1945, Joseph Imhof started work in the quarry on a small scale again. He hired a few workers, but the costs soon became so high that work had to be stopped again. The largestrealgar crystal ever found in Lengenbach (7 cm long, 3 cm wide and weighing 90 g), currently housed in the Natural History Museum in Bern, dates from this time.

Joseph Imhof then started a campaign to find sufficient funding to reopen the quarry. In 1958, he found in Dr. Grossglauser an efficient sponsor who then contacted Mr. von Sinner, the then president of the museum commission in Bern, and submitted to him the plan to reopen the quarry. Mr. von Sinner was enthusiastic about the idea, which led to the foundation of the(Bernische) Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lengenbach, led by its technical manager and concession holder Joseph Imhof (1902-1969). This was done with the financial support of the Natural History Museum in Bern, the Mineralogical-Petrological Institute of the University of Bern, and the Bally-Museum Schönenwerd.

The quarry was first cleaned up with the help of heavy machinery. Wooden load-bearing beams dating back to the time of theDolomit-Aktiengesellschaft were discovered. These beams had been used to support the then 7 metres deep quarry. Spacious barracks were built, a trolley system on rails was installed to remove the rubble from the quarry, and the local creek was slightly diverted. Work began and soon the mineral-bearing veins were found again, together with the minerals that had not been found in a long time, such asbaumhauerite,jordanite,hutchinsonite,lengenbachite, and so on. It did not take long before new species were discovered such assinnerite,nowackiite, andimhofite, which were named after the men who had either worked in or had been affiliated with the quarry.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lengenbach_Quarry
Wikidata ID:	Q16894103

Mindat Articles

17 Rarest Minerals of Lengenbach Switzerland by Nekkhi Murtishi

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References