Detailed information
Species
Belendorffite
Dimensions
2 x 3 x 2
mm
Weight
1 g
Locality
Landsberg (Moschellandsberg) Alsenz-Obermoschel, Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Condition
No recorded repairs
There are no two ways of saying, this micro-mount of the super-rare species Belendorffite is without doubt one for the true connoisseur! This mineral is named for its discoverer, Klaus Belendorff, and if you look the species up in mindat, you will see a photo of Klaus, looking rightly pleased with himself. I too would be grinning like the Cheshire Cat had I made such a find! This specimen is from its type locality in the ancient mercury mining district of Landsberg in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, south-west of Frankfurt am Main. Moschellandsberg hill (now shortened to Landsberg), is within a region rich in mercury and mercury minerals, where mining began in around 1440. Because of mercury's unique property of being the only liquid metal at ambient conditions, it has been known since ancient times, and is thought to have been first discovered by the Ancient Egyptians, prior to 1,500 BCE. As both the photo and video show, this is one very small specimen, measured at 3 x 2 x 2 mm, carefully mounted on a vertical clear acrylic rod within a Jousi-style box. Belendorffite is a natural copper-mercury alloy, also termed a copper amalgam; an amalgam being an alloy of mercury with another metal. The Belendorffite occurs as minute inclusions within this tiny piece of matrix and are only visible under magnification such is the rarity of this species. Not the most flattering of descriptions, yet honest I feel. For any specimen containing mercury and or mercury bearing minerals, it is a sensible precaution to always wash your hands after handling.