Iron

$400.00

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This is a super little talking point specimen. Native iron rarely forms naturally on the Earth's surface, with most specimens being extraterrestrial 'iron' meteorites, which have a noticeable proportion of nickel naturally alloyed with the iron metal. There are, though, a few rare terrestrial geological occurrences, notably where igneous intrusions make contact with coal-bearing rocks associated with iron-bearing carbonates. The result is the burning of coal under reducing conditions leading to the natural 'smelting' of iron carbonates to produce iron metal. One of the most famous examples of this is at Khungtukun Massif in the remote Taimyr Peninsula in northern Russia. This small, double-sided polished slice displays rich silvery metallic blebs of Native Iron within Dolerite/Gabbro host rock. The Native Iron shows very little tarnish and may well also contain the rare iron carbide - Cohenite - which is known to be present in the Native Iron grains from there.