Strengite

A great location piece of the rare iron phosphate Strengite, from the gigantic Kiirunavaara mine in the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden.  This is amongst the world’s largest underground mining operations and has been the subject of a few TV documentaries in recent years. Cobalt-pink radial clusters of Strengite, 1 to 3 mm in diameter, are scattered over a rusty coloured dark grey metallic matrix, likely to be magnetite but weakly magnetic.  Many of the Strengite clusters are horizontally cleaved, parallel to the matrix surface and so display their internal radial structure that is typically oxidised to an earthy orange-russet.  Glued to the base is a lovely old label, neatly handwritten in an elegant script.  A good and scarce example from this Leviathan of mines.