One of a kind
Photograph A: Cobalt ore, Bou-Azzer Mine, Morocco.
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Sample: Colloform mass of silver-white skutterudite (CoAs3) associated with crimson-pink erythrite (Co3[AsO4]2.8H2O)
Locality: Bou-Azzer Mine, Morocco Primary Commodity: Cobalt When there is only one place in the world where something happens, you know that locality is unique. The Bou-Azzer cobalt mine in Morocco is such a place and that is where this exquisite photographed sample of cobalt ore is from
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Useful fact
Cobalt is nearly always produced as a by-product of mining for copper and nickel. However, Bou-Azzer is the exception as it is the only mining district in the world to produce cobalt as a primary commodity from arsenic bearing ores – make sure you don’t go licking these rocks!
Pretty in pink
The crimson-pink mineral in the sample is erythrite (Co3[AsO4]2.8H2O) and although it contains cobalt, it is not one of the main cobalt bearing ore minerals at Bou-Azzer. However, it does give the mountains in this district a distinctly pink glint in the sunshine, which was one of the first clues geologists had to suggest that there was something unique about this area.
The silvery mineral in the sample called skutterudite (CoAs3). It is one of the main cobalt bearing minerals at Bou-Azzer. The texture displayed by skutterudite is termed ‘colloform texture’ and it gives this sample its banded appearance.
Collection enhancement
The Museum’s Ore Curator, collected the Bou-Azzer cobalt suite while on a Museum collection enhancement fieldtrip to Morocco, in September 2013. You can read all about her adventure here. Collection enhancement fieldtrips are just one way of growing the ore collection.
The Bou-Azzer suite serves two purposes:
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Cobalt is nearly always produced as a by-product of mining for copper and nickel. However, Bou-Azzer is the exception as it is the only mining district in the world to produce cobalt as a primary commodity from arsenic bearing ores – make sure you don’t go licking these rocks!
Pretty in pink
The crimson-pink mineral in the sample is erythrite (Co3[AsO4]2.8H2O) and although it contains cobalt, it is not one of the main cobalt bearing ore minerals at Bou-Azzer. However, it does give the mountains in this district a distinctly pink glint in the sunshine, which was one of the first clues geologists had to suggest that there was something unique about this area.
The silvery mineral in the sample called skutterudite (CoAs3). It is one of the main cobalt bearing minerals at Bou-Azzer. The texture displayed by skutterudite is termed ‘colloform texture’ and it gives this sample its banded appearance.
Collection enhancement
The Museum’s Ore Curator, collected the Bou-Azzer cobalt suite while on a Museum collection enhancement fieldtrip to Morocco, in September 2013. You can read all about her adventure here. Collection enhancement fieldtrips are just one way of growing the ore collection.
The Bou-Azzer suite serves two purposes:
- Enhancement of the existing collection by providing an ore suite from this locality which was previously not represented in the Museum’s ore collection.
- Providing cobalt-rich material for a research initiative looking into the extraction of cobalt from its ores using microbes which you can read all about here.
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