Nickeline (rare classic material)

Item Description

A classic Canadian rarity in the form of a fairly rich specimen of Nickeline - a nickel arsenide - species from the Cobalt Area of Ontario, Canada. The entry on mindat.org states that the name of the species came "From the German nickname for the ore miners called kupfernickel (copper nickel); after Old Nick and his mischievous gnomes, because the ore seemed to contain copper but yielded none." Large patches of metallic, pale coppery colored Nickeline can be seen all over the front/display side of the piece, along with a bit on the back. Quartz is present, along with a dark grey-black mineral (possibly something like Skutterudite, but it hasn't been analyzed to know for certain). This piece weighs 200.8 grams, which is fairly dense for the overall size. This is old material from a classic, now defunct, locality. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired from mining, but was formerly the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s, and the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".​