The Tellure Mining Park is located on an old mine in the Val d’Argent, the nickname of the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines valley in the Middle Ages. In 1549, five new veins, including the Saint-Jean vein, based on silver-bearing coppers, were discovered in the Neuenberg mountain. Mining flourished until 1570, but then began a long decline due to the scarcity of ore and competition from mines in the New World. In 1581, the extraction of a 592 kg block of silver in Saint-Jean revived the interest of the concessionaires for a few years, but the mine was closed in 1636. It was reopened in the 18th and 19th centuries, but closed for good in 1907.