Magnetite

Item Description

A hefty and robust specimen of very good sized Magnetite crystals from the Atlas Mountains, North Africa (labeled as Morocco). The piece features dozens of sharp, well-formed, dark grey-black octahedrons measuring up to 2.8 cm on edge, on matrix. There is some brownish oxidation on the surface, typical for many of the Magnetites from this locality. The piece is crystallized on all sides, and is largely damage-free, with very little in the way of broken crystals, but there are some spots of interrupted growth here and there. This is one of those pieces that's hard to convey in photos/video, but I think it probably looks better in person. The fact that the largest Magnetite crystal is over an inch is a big deal, as Magnetite is rarely found in crystals much more than 1 cm from most localities. It's a heavy specimen, weighing nearly a full kilo (992 grams). 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-205533.html