This rock was found on a heap that probably consists of
overburden from a small abandoned mine in a village called "Silbersberg"
(Silver Mountain), located near Gloggnitz, Lower Austria.
It's a quarz vein within a metavolcanic rock (consisting mostly of chlorite and epidote).
The mineral in question occurs as striped masses, showing good cleavage (parallel to the long stripe axis).
Hardness is about 3 or 4, streak is grey, lustre metallic, shining slightly blue.
Note that the vein on the bottom image is wound due to tectonic stress but not broken.
The pale green dots on the bottom image are lichens, by the way.
The shiny minerals are both about 5cm (2 inches) long.
Can anybody help me identify it?
Seems to me that most sulfides (e.g. argentite, antimonite) should be softer than my specimen.
HomeResponsible for the content: Christof Kuhn Christof.Kuhn@boku.ac.at
Last modified: April 13, 2004