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Awaruite

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RSL604662

Awaruite

Type Locality

Description Tabs

Description
Locality: 
Awarua Bay, Gorge River, Westland District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand
Class: 
Massive/Crystalline
Size Range: 
Micromount (under 1cm)
Size: 
0.1 × 0.1 × 0.1 cm
Description

This placer mining sample is from the Type Locality for the species. Under the loupe you can see several small nuggets of this alloy, accompanied by several black magnetite, epidote... Awaruite is natural iron-nickel alloy with compositions within Ni3Fe-Ni2Fe range. Some of these nuggets have been analyzed by SEM-EDS and show a near perfect Fe:Ni 1:3 (see details attached).
"Awaruite was first described by Skey (1885) as constituting a sample of heavy black sand given by alluvial miners to the Government Warden of the Jackson's Bay District, South Island, New Zealand".
From Skey, W. (1885), Trans. N.Z. Inst. 18:401-2.
For more info read this article related to the name...[online]
Rodgers, K.A., Hey, M.H. (1980): On the type locality and other occurrences of awaruite (FeNi3) in Westland, New Zealand. Miner. Mag. 43:647-650.

Mineral Data
What's on the rock

Awaruite

Formula: 
Ni3Fe
Strunz: 
1.AE.20
Crystal System: 
Isometric
Hardness: 
5.0
Type Locality: 
Gorge river, South Westland, South Island, New Zealand