Breithauptite (Type Locality) & Smaltite ex Robertson Coll

St Andreasberg, Harz, Lower Saxony, Germany
Miniature, 3.1 x 2.6 x 2.3 cm
Start Time: 12/15/2017 6:45:00 pm (CST)
End Time: 12/21/2017 6:36:44 pm (CST)
Auction Closed

Item Description

The historic mines at St. Andreasberg are the Type Locality for the rare nickel antimonide, breithauptite, a member of the Nickeline Group. It was named in 1840. It is distinguished by its bright copper-red color with a violet tint. Patches and isolated blebs of lustrous breithauptite with sections of gray smaltite, the arsenic-deficient variety of skutterudite are scattered in the miniature calcite matrix. Pink calcite fluorescence. The last mines closed in 1910 and wonderful specimens, such as this probably date to the mid to late 1800s. Ex Kay Robertson Collection # 3002 and acquired at the San Jose Show in 1963. Kay assembled a nice suite of classics and rarities from this famed district. Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record). See the Mineralogical Record St. Andreasberg Special Issue, May-June, 2017, Vol. 48, No. 3. Quality breithauptite specimens are RARE from here.

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