Antimony (November 2nd, 2015)

This mineral is ‘Antimony’ – although is likely a mix of minerals such as stibnite, galena (lead sulphide) and acanthite (silver sulphide). It has filled a fracture in the rock over time, building up layers. The varying shades of metallic grey show that the chemistry was changing over time, whilst the walls of the fracture are coated in calcite and quartz.

This specimen was collected from the Engineer Mine 32km west Atlin in northern British Columbia, which was first staked in 1899. It has a long history of producing gold and silver, and is currently owned by BCGold Corp.

Antimony has been used since ancient times, but today is commonly mixed with tin and lead to create an alloy used in batteries, bullets, solder material and bearings.

Specimen Information