Morassina

Morassina is an inactive mine in Schmiedefeld (Lichtetal), Thuringia, Germany.

The first recorded mention of the mine dates to 1683, as a source of alum, iron and copper vitriols (sulfates),[1] sulfur, and colored clay.

[2] In 1717 the merchant Johann Leonard Morassi bought the mine and named it Morassina.

In 1750 the Leipzig trading firm of Frege bought it and became extremely wealthy from it; in 1816 they were able to buy back the Crown Jewels of Saxony, carried off by Napoleon, from Amsterdam.

However, the bottom fell out of the market after chemical methods of synthesizing alum and sulfuric acid were introduced around 1850.