NATIVE Tellurium with Pyrite - Baia de Arieș, Alba County, Romania

NATIVE Tellurium with Pyrite

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I suspect most of us think type localities tend not to exit for native elements as these were some of the very first minerals ever discovered, before such matters were written into history. This is not the case with Native Tellurium because this fine miniature is from its type locality of Faţa Băii by the town of Zlatna in Alba County, Romania. Dana records this as Facebánya or Faczebaja . The mines in this area worked a gold deposit containing a limited suit of only eight recorded species, yet is type locality to both Native Tellurium and Tellurite. Finely crystallised Native Tellurium forms dark battleship grey to metallic bronze, granular textured patches on a Quartz matrix. This specimen is accompanied with two old, handwritten labels (see photograph).