Maucherite (rare nickel arsenide - fine crystals) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful old classic specimen of the famous Maucherites from the type locality! This small cabinet is essentially a hefty piece of nickel-bearing ore, but there is a small vug that plays host to many fine quality, sharp, well-formed, steel-grey colored, prismatic / platy crystals of Maucherite. Most of the crystals are in the 1-2 mm range, but they are beautiful to view up close! It is important to note that most specimens of this rare nickel arsenide species are either massive or incredibly microscopic, so to find a well-crystallized example like this is a big deal. This piece features crystals that you can see with the naked eye, and they are excellent quality to boot. We have photographed the crystals with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. If you collect rarities, minerals from Germany, nickel-bearing species or minerals from the type locality, do NOT miss out on this important and incredibly hard to find example that easily dates back over 100+ years. Please note, this piece is DENSE for its size, weighing in at 600 grams. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#4398). Kay was a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics. She nearly lived 100 years from April 1920 - March 2020. See the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record ( https://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/pdfs/Kay%20Robertson%20Collection.pdf ), and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017.