$1,375Median
34Sold (12 mo)
$40Last sale
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Native Iron
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A true mineral oddity, even if it looks unassuming at first glance: Native Iron is extremely rare in igneous rocks, even though it forms the majority of the earth's core. Iron meteorites exist of course, but those are space-formed and not terrestrial formed. True "earthly" iron is very rare! This old-timer is a large piece from remote Disko Island, Greenland and is richly speckled with bright metallic Native Iron in basalt matrix. Most surviving specimens are merely slices, but this is the endcap of a full mass with natural edges other than the frontal face. Many of these came out in the late 1800s and early 1900s through scientific expeditions, and have been passed down through collections ever since. One surface is expertly polished to show bronzy Native Iron specks to 1 mm in size; and there is obvious flecks of the material on all of the rough surfaces on the piece. It's 447 grams (about a pound in weight!) and is quite rich and large for a specimen of this material. This occurrence is the largest, richest and now the only deposit on earth since the small deposits in Siberia and at Kassel, Germany were mined out long ago. Most Native Iron is extra-terrestrial and found in meteorites. This specimen probably dates to the late 1800s. It's old material and is rare and seldom seen. A great explanation of how special these are encompassing all 3 localities, we found online with a Russian specimen actually, from Carnegie Museum: https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Native_iron_in_basalt_%28Siberian_Traps_Flood_Basalt,_Permian-Triassic_boundary_times,_251_Ma;_Putoran_Plateau,_Siberia,_Russia%29_2_%2817338266745%29.jpg
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