NATIVE Silver

Unknown Owner

This remarkable rich small cabinet specimen of Native Silver is from the Gowganda area of Ontario, Canada, by the looks of it, a rather chilly place in winter! The Native Silver pervades a pale peppermint green and cream veinstone matrix, the foliated green areas having a waxy lustre. They look like Steatite, a variety of Talc, yet this is not listed as occurring here. It could possibly be low grade Actinolite. However, the Native Silver is so rich, it is this which binds the rock component rather than vice versa. The Silver often adopts a mild lilac hue indicating the possible presence of cobalt, perhaps in the form of intermixed Cobaltite, but this is my speculation. The specimen has been removed form in-situ by cold chiselling or sawing along a 4.4 x 1.0 cm section at one side, where remnant chisel or sawtooth marks remain. Strong protruding sheets of Native Silver have a sharp, hackly texture and if flicked by thumb and forefinger emit a clear metallic ring. It's a heavy old specimen and it's a showy specimen, a great example from this region of Ontario.