Molybdenite

This specimen features a perfect rosette of metallic, lustrous molybdenite, almost completely exposed in a glassy quartz matrix. Molybdenite, being a very soft mineral, is difficult to find in well-defined crystals, as it is easily damaged during collection. This specimen clearly shows the typical hexagonal layered structure of the crystal and has good placement.

The deposit is in a pegmatite that has been exposed by several open cuts on a prominent white ridge visible for miles from the adjacent countryside. Exploration of the deposit was conducted by Dupas Metals Limited in the 1950s, Utufora Mining Co. Ltd. in 1963, and Moly Hill Mining Corporation Ltd. from 1964 to 1968. More recently, in the 1990s, quartz was quarried there for use as flux in the smelter in Noranda.