Maucherite

Maucherite is an extremely rare nickel arsenide and this magnificent, crystallised miniature is from its type locality at Eisleben in the Mansfeld Basin of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.  Covering a 4 mm thick matrix plate of milky and pale pink Quartz is a layer of massive crystalline Maucherite which tapers from 1 cm down to 1 mm thick, displaying its characteristic metallic reddish sliver-white colour.  Across the top of the specimen a roughly 4 x 2 cm area is coated with splendid stellate bursts of prismatic, platy crystals of Maucherite, each rosette having a basic hexagonal geometry, then overlayered with more vertically aligned Maucherite prisms that make an overall complex network of interconnected crystals and rosettes.  This is a museum-grade specimen of Maucherite from its type locality in Eisleben and is accompanied with two old labels from previous collections.  One is written in wonderful old German-style script from the private collection of Fr. Ritter of Hildesheim and is ex. the Dr Josef Clemente Collection.