Silver (good sized specimen)

Item Description

A good sized specimen of Silver from the famous Cobalt area in Ontario. This piece says it's specifically from the Cobalt Lode Mine, which is a nice addition to the pedigree, as many specimens will simply be labeled as coming from "Cobalt". This area has been known for centuries, and the explorer Jacques Cartier even wrote about it according to the entry on mindat.org, which quotes Grice [1989], "Jacques Cartier provided the first written reference to silver in the Cobalt area. On his second voyage (1535-1536) the Indians signed to him that silver metal resembling his neck-chain could be found in the "Kingdom of the Saguenay". It lay toward the north, up a great stream (the Ottawa River) along the mountains (the Laurentians)! Although gold and silver keenly interested the early explorers, Cartier never made the journey." This piece is a hefty (260.6 grams) specimen filled with foliated, almost curled "leaves" of Silver, with a dark patina. Upon close inspection, one can find a mixture of crystalline groups and micro crystals tucked deeper into the "leaves". The piece appears to be almost 100% solid Silver, as I can't find any matrix or other major associations. A really aesthetic and showy example of this wonderful old classic material.
From the collection Dr. Robert ("Rob") Bowell, a geochemist and adjunct professor in Geochemistry and Mineralogy at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Rob has a background in applied geology in tropical and deeply weathered terrains, he also has done mining consulting in the fields of due diligence, financial and technical audits, process chemistry, environmental geochemistry, environmental engineering and mineralogy.