Nickeline

Unknown Owner

Bright lustrous crystalline nickeline thick across the top of this matrix. An excellent example for this German classic. Nickeline from Schlema in Saxony, Germany occurs in the historic Erzgebirge mining district, an area long known for silver, cobalt, nickel, and uranium production. Schlema became especially active in the 20th century when extensive underground mining targeted uranium deposits, but earlier workings had already produced nickel and cobalt minerals from hydrothermal veins hosted in metamorphic and igneous rocks. Nickeline, a nickel arsenide mineral with the formula NiAs, is found in association with cobalt minerals, native silver, and other arsenides typical of the district. Specimens from Schlema are valued by collectors for their metallic luster and historical connection to one of Europes classic mining regions.