Detailed information
Species
Mertieite, Polarite, Kotulskite and Taimyrite
Dimensions
19 x 21 x 3
mm
Locality
Oktyabrsky Mine, Talnakh Cu-Ni Deposit Noril'sk, Taimyr Peninsula Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia
Condition
No recorded repairs
The Oktyabrsky Mine, Talnakh Cu-Ni Deposit, is the Type Locality for 13 different mineral species, many of which are palladium, or platinum-bearing. This sample doesn't contain any of the species first described from the deposit, but does contain a multitude of rare palladium-bearing species famous from the occurrence. The previous collectors label records Mertieite-II, 'Pb-Polarite', Kotulskite, Taimyrite, Chalcopyrite, Pentlandite, Magnetite, Galena and Silver - the first four of which contain palladium. As always with the rarer palladium-bearing species, they form complex microscopic intergrowths that are only identifiable using reflected light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The sample we have here is not a typical polished mount used for reflected light microscopy and SEM studies, but has been cut and polished in a similar manner for optical study. Examples of these rare species from this occurrence are few and far between.