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Improving Mindat.orgSkutterudite on silver from Cobalt?

22nd May 2015 18:32 UTCReiner Mielke Expert

http://www.mindat.org/photo-285130.html I can see no skutterudite on this only what looks like safflorite. The skutterudite crystals from that area always form cubic equant crystals or flattened square crystals often on safflorite.

22nd May 2015 19:25 UTCRichard Gunter Expert

I agree with Reiner. It may possibly be Rammelsbergite but normally these "furry" aggregates are Safflorite.

22nd May 2015 21:14 UTCBob Harman

Firstly I must admit that I know nothing of the silver minerals, cobalt minerals and other minerals that you are now discussing, but there just may be a bigger problem here. It seems as tho some time in the past a hi end dealer has offered this specimen...yes??

For a long time I have followed these websites and they have offered many many hi end specimens of a whole slew of mineral combinations. I see no evidence that many, if not most or all, of these specimens come with any types of certificates of analysis. In fact do they actually come with any type of certificate of analysis?

On 1 or 2 occasions I had some knowledge of the minerals in the offered specimens that I disagreed with. If any of this is true, buyer beware?? CHEERS…….BOB

22nd May 2015 21:46 UTCBob Harman

I do not mean to hijack this thread, but for me this really is important and is all quite simple.

Most purchasers of hi end and expensive minerals are not geologists, geochemists or the like, but mineral collectors willing to spend large sums of money on exotic minerals and combinations to enhance their collections. They know little of what they really are buying. To be sure, there are many hi end minerals and combos that are straight forward and can be safely purchased for large sums of money based on sight alone. BUT, there also are many exotic minerals and combos that should not be offered or purchased without some proof of what they are. An accepted analysis. These are the examples of which I speak.

The offering of these specimens should always state something like: Minerals ABC and XYZ from locality Q analyzed by (type of analysis) MBD labs in May 2015 with certificate accompanying the specimen. For hi end examples this should all be part of the pricing of the specimens. I might then get more interested in acquiring some of these examples. CHEERS…..BOB

22nd May 2015 22:31 UTCRichard Gunter Expert

Hi Bob:

I agree with you about minerals sold as something else. It does affect the price as analyzed samples are often an order of magnitude more expensive than unanalyzed ones as the analyses required to confirm some rare minerals are often complex and expensive.

In this case however the Safflorite is so distinctive from Skutterudite that it should not have been a problem. See my posting of Skutterudite and Rammelsbergite from the Hudson Bay Mine in Ontario to see what the difference between the phases are on a single sample. All Skutterudite from Cobalt looks like these distorted cubes and not the "furry" aggregates.

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