Detailed information
Dimensions
55 x 71 x 41
mm
Weight
10 g
Locality
Shaft 38, Niederschlema Bad Schlema, Erzgebirgskreis Saxony, Germany
Condition
No recorded repairs
Native Bismuth, or pure natural bismuth metal is a rare occurrence and on the few occasions that it is encountered it is usually as hackly masses with sharp irregular edges, not crystals. This specimen though is a phenomenon on so many levels. It comes from Shaft 38 at Niederschlema, the settlement neighbouring Schneeberg, the official Type Locality for Native Bismuth from several centuries past. Clearly more modern, this specimen shows all of the classic old-time features, suggesting that the mines were perhaps linked, or that identical mineralization extends along the vein system. Small cabinet in size, this dense, Native Bismuth-rich specimen is not only encrusted in stunning well-formed skeletal crystals of a quality rarely seen elsewhere and in a world-class size too, reaching 1 cm long individually, but these crystals extend right through the matrix too.
