Tellurobismuthite with Native Gold

Golden silver metallic Tellurobismuthite forms a rich patchwork over the top face of a dark grey Quartz matrix, streaked milky white from the Red Lake area in the Kenora District of Ontario, Canada.  The locality takes its name from the adjacent town of Red Lake on the south shore of Red Lake, a large and complex body of water strewn with numerous small islands.  There are many gold mines in this area and few specimens leave the district with a precise locality recorded.  The Tellurobismuthite, a bismuth telluride, forms characteristic foliated masses, the foliation when parallel to the surface giving a platy appearance.  The Native Gold forms as pinhead sized grains which tend to form small clusters and these can be seen on all faces of the matrix.  The largest patches of Native Gold are on the opposite side to the Tellurobismuthite.  A super specimen.