Description

Remarkable smaltite sample showing 2 cubo-octahedral crystals of 2 and 1 cm of silvery-gray metallic luster, from the Schneeberg mining complex, a mountainous area with numerous silver, cobalt and iron mines, Erzgebirgskreis region, Saxony, Germany.
Smaltite is a variety of skutterudite, a rare mineral composed of cobalt and nickel arsenide with the formula (Co,Ni)As3-x.
This specimen is from the mineral collection of Deyrolle, a former naturalist dealer in Paris. It comes with its original label, which dates from the 1950s/1970s.

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