Graphite (fine crystals) (ex Dr. Vasco Trancoso Collection)

Item Description

Graphite gets its name from the Greek word "graphein", which means "to write", and it's the reason the material is used as the "lead" in pencils. Typically, Graphite is not found in well-crystallized specimens, as it more often than not is found in lower temperature environments, but the specimens from the Saint-Sauveur Graphite occurrence in Quebec, Canada are from a higher temperature metamorphic deposit, and formed fine crystals. This piece hosts many sharp, well-formed, dark silvery-grey metallic hexagonal crystals of Graphite measuring up to 6 mm, sitting on massive, iron-stained Calcite matrix. While not every crystal on the specimen is "textbook", there are many good examples on this piece, and they're not MICRO, so you can clearly see them with the naked eye. From the collection of Dr. Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and systematic mineral collector from Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-226511.html