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The ore excavated at Schneeberg was rarely in the form of pure metal. Most useful deposits contained ore which was more or less mixed with other minerals and, before smelting, had to be separated from them. This was done near the shafts at Schneeberg until 1874, to economize on transport by draught animals. The extracted ore was simply scattered on the ground, the larger pieces were broken up into smaller ones with a hammer on special stone bases, and then the ore was hand-picked from the sterile rock.
Unlike the dangerous work underground, from which women were always excluded, for their own protection, this heavy work of ore separation was habitually carried out by women, children, and older workers. Although normally done in simple huts or sheds, at Schneeberg it was certainly done in the open air, as shown by the approximately 100 stone bases for crushing which may still be seen at the edges of the old dumps.
Schneeberg also had its first mechanical crushing mills from the 16th century onwards. Large hydraulically powered columns, with feet reinforced in iron, broke up the ore to the fineness of sand. These pre-industrial plants were built in five places: the highest near the St. Gallus gallery; one near the Vierzehn Nothelfer gallery and the elevator; the next one under the mining village, near the river; the so-called master gallery crusher, the best known at Seemoos; and the lowest one, near the Karl gallery, going back to 1750. Setting the crushers at a sufficient distance from each other meant that the water turning the hydraulic wheels, coming from June to October through canals from the Rio Schneeberg, could be exploited several times as it flowed downwards.
The mixture of ore and sterile rock, thus reduced to the consistency of sand, went directly from the crushers to the washeries. Here, it was spread out on tilted washing-tables, which were either made to vibrate automatically or were covered with rough cloths. Water flowing over the tables carried away lighter material, i.e., the 'sand', while the heavier mass of ore remained, was washed on the tables, and then sorted. From the 16th century until 1874 (when the cableway to Maiern began to work), this crushed, washed ore remained the final product of ore enrichment at Schneeberg. It was then hauled by the ‘trains of sacks’ described earlier, or by mule, across the mountain and valley to the forges.
Only blende was enriched at , from 1874. In 1896, a modern crushing mill was installed higher up, near the St. Peter gallery. The main ore, blende, was taken to the enrichment plant at Maiern.
The women who used to sort the ore, called ‘Tschodiler’, remained working during the summer months at Schneeberg. Most of them, about 70 in number, came from northern Italy and Slovenia. Their minimum age was 12. In 1896, near the Vierzehn Nothelfer gallery, at a due distance of about 400 metres from the men’s village of St. Martin, the so-called ‘women’s house’ was built, containing 72 beds. It was entirely demolished in 1985.