Native Iron in Basalt slab (rare!) Kay Robertson Coll.

Item Description

RARE, rich and classic native iron from a remote massif in far northern Siberia, a highly significant location. Both sides of the polished slab are dramatically festooned with sculptural, bright silvery globules of native iron in the basalt matrix. Terrestrial native iron is very rare on earth and found only a few times in very old igneous and sedimentary rocks. Iron forms the majority of the earth's core (MINDAT) but native iron - not from meteors - is rare on the surface and in the mantle. Ex Kay Robertson Collection # 8712. Kay was a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017). She recently passed away in 2020. Mass is 11 grams. Valued $500-1000.