Cobaltite (classic material)

Item Description

Cobaltite is a fairly rare cobalt arsenic sulfosalt, and certainly the best examples ever found are the classic examples from the famous locality at Hakansboda, Sweden. This old locality traces back the 15th Century, and not only produced the world's finest Cobaltite crystals, but also the best Glaucodot specimens (which are chemically very similar) ever seen. Many of these Cobaltites are loose "floater" singles, so when you find a crystal on matrix like this, it's noteworthy. The crystal on this piece measures 5 mm, and has smooth brilliant metallic silvery-white faces. A lot of Cobaltites from this locality have a matte luster and "dingy" looking faces, but this one really shines and stands out against others I've seen from the locality. The habit might appear cubic, and many people think that Cobaltite crystals belong to the isometric system, like a lot of basic sulfides, but the crystals are actually orthorhombic, so this is a pseudo-cube. Upon close inspection, I can see a tiny bit of roughness to one edge of the crystal, but it's largely in very good shape overall.