Home > American Minerals V – October 1 > MS1659 Antimony nugget
Antimony nugget - Sold
- Tom Moore mine
- Erskine Creek
- Kern County
- California
- U.S.A.
- 5.7 by 4.9 by 3.7 cm – Miniature specimen (fits into a 5 cm cube)
Antimony is a semi-metallic element isolated in ancient times, and used by alchemists. The name antimony is from the medieval Latin antimonium, and likely previously of Arabic origin. This locality is a known past producer of native antimony specimens, but it has not produced much in decades.
Antimony here formed a nugget of spheroidal weathering origin; it has been broken in half to reveal an interior of crystalline antimony. A white skin of antimony oxides, principally senarmontite and valentinite, is present. Reflections from cleavage planes on the broken surface indicate a crystal grain averaging 1.5 cm. Rare.