Magnetite

Unknown Owner

This magnificent Magnetite specimen from Kovdor Zheleznyi mine, Kola Peninsula, Murmanskaja Oblast', Russia features many enormous, well-formed, but slightly rounded octahedral crystals, forming a well-balanced and attractive cabinet-sized aggregate. Some of the Magnetite from the Kovdor Zheleznyi mine is the unusual magnesium-rich variety Magnomagnetite and all of the photos of that variety that I can find show the modified 'bevelled' edges to the octahedral crystals just like these crystals. These crystals reach over 3 cm in length and stand out from areas of an unidentified white matrix. Despite this being a huge iron mine, specimens of Magnetite - which in massive form is the ore - are rarely seen from there. This is a particularly fine and spectacular example and will make a dramatic statement on display.