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Morocco has blessed the world with some exceptional examples of mineral species which had previously only been known in smaller, inferior crystals. Skutterudite is one of those species. Chemically, cobalt arsenide, Skutterudite was first described from Norway in the 1850s. Subsequently, it was found in well-formed cubo-octahedral crystals in Germany and Canada, but mines in the Bou Azzer District in Morocco raised the bar again with not only larger, perfectly formed crystals, but with magnificent lustre too. This superb specimen features a very dense solid Lollingite base rising up as rounded terminated aggregates. This is in itself quite nice, and interesting, but liberally dispersed over the surface of the Lollingite are perfect cubo-octahedral Skutterudite crystals, many to 1.1 cm in diameter. These crystals are extremely bright and reflective with a lovely silvery-grey colour. The base of the specimen has been cut and ground down, but this does not detract from the wonderful display on top. Ex Nick Hawes collection.
118 x 80 x 49 mm