Hauerite (rare classic material)

Item Description

Hauerite is a rare manganese sulfide mineral, and a member of the Pyrite Group. The best examples are found in textbook isometric crystals, with sharp, euhedral faces. The species was named after Austrian geologists Joseph Ritter von Hauer and Franz von Hauer in 1846. Although it's been known for close to 200 years, it has only been found in 11 countries in the world. This piece is a classic example from the Destricella Mine in Sicily showing wonderful octahedral form with cubic modifications. The piece is essentially a "floater", as it's crystallized on all sides, with no damage that I can see. The color is a dark brownish-black hue, but the edges have a notably lighter grey color to them, creating a distinctive "outline" on each face. From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). He assembled his mineral collection over the course of 60 years, and built a fine worldwide display collection that we recently purchased. This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-258389.html