Mineralpedia Details for Skutterudite
Skutterudite
Named for its type locality at the Skuterud mines in Norway. Skutterudite can be found in hydrothermal veins of medium to high temperatures along with other nickel-colbalt sulfides. It has hundreds of localities typically as an accessory mineral, however there are very few that are important for ore or fine crystals.
Ref. Handbook of Mineralogy, Anthony et al (1995) and MSA at http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/skutterudite.pdf
- Formula
- CoAs3-x
- Crystal System
- Isometric
- Crystal Habit
- Granular, Colloform, Massive
- Cleavage
- Distinct, Distinct, None
- Luster
- Metallic
- Color
- white, light steel gray
- Streak
- black
- Class
- Isometric - Diploidal
- Fracture
- Brittle
- Hardness
- 5.5-6
- WebMineral
- View Skutterudite
- Mindat
- View Skutterudite
Skutterudite from Silverfields mine, Cobalt dist., Ontario, Canada
Cobalt, a large Silver deposit had significant native Silver zones. Some of the veins were so large they termed one of them the "Silver Sidewalk". This specimen shows native Silver throughout the matrix with Stephanite and silvery Skutterrudite. Other possible associates include Stromeyerite and Chalcocite. Most likely from the large research project performed on this deposit in the 1960's.
Skutterudite from Hesse, Germany
This is an older specimen from the Charles Noll collection. It is a cabinet size specimen with good coverage of silvery 7mm crystals. All of the crystals are distinct and well-formed showing excellent crystal faces in the many vugs. Specimens of Skutterudite from this historic district are very hard to come by and certainly rare on the market. Most pieces are forever held by museums and private collectors.
