Home > Franklin & Sterling Hill – March 26 > MS1045 Graphite

Graphite - Sold


Graphite is a polymorph of naturally occurring native carbon. The mineral name derives from the Greek to write, since the mineral easily marks surfaces. This is a cleavage of calcite enclosing a 2.3 cm aggregate of platy graphite.

This specimen was part of the personal collection of Ralph Merrill, proprietor of the prolific mail order business Minerals Unlimited. Unfortuantely, Merrill thought the piece was molybdenite, but our Raman analysis clearly indicates graphite. Merrill's collection card and label also ship with the specimen.