In 1549, Collin Schwartz discovered the Saint-Jean vein, a vast silver deposit extending in the subsoil of the Val d'Argent. The finding triggered an unprecedented silver fever in the region. Some 3,000 men and women came to settle in the valley to work down the mines. Life beneath the surface was organized and hierarchical. A mining code imported by workers from Saxony and consisting of 92 articles was established, and a mining judge was appointed. Despite exhausting processes, the miners obtained better work conditions with an assistance fund and tax exemptions.