Millerite (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

A beautiful specimen of classic bronze colored semi-acicular Millerite from this famous locality in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Up close, you can see the quality of the sharp, "needle"-like crystals in radial aggregates. A wonderful example of this beloved nickel sulfide. The Gap Nickel Mine was discovered in 1732, and was worked to some extent for copper. Nickel was discovered in the 1850s, as millerite and the mine was taken over in the 1860s by Joseph Wharton, founder of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#1877). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record).