Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Louriren gold mine, Morocco
SIZE : 22.5 x 12.3 x 15.2 cm

On this siderite sample one observes the two generation of carbonates: brown siderite and beige dolomite, on a big quartz "rock crystal".

This sample comes from Louriren gold mine in Morocco. This locality has produted noticeable specimen of siderite, associated with calcite, dolomite and quatrz.

This sample, also called "Noah's Ark" by miners, has been acquired at the end of 2007 thanks to support from Total. It is one of the most beautiful siderite specimen of this mine.

It is kept in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Thanks to 3D view, one observes all sides of this complex assemblage of carbonates on quartz.

Photography and 3D view: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Siderite

HISTORY : Name inspired by the Greek word "σιδεροσ" [sideros] meaning iron. Name given in reference to its chemical composition

Species first described in 1845 by Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger (1795-1871), Austrian geologist and mineralogist

Type-locality: undefined because species already known by the Ancients
ANCIENT NAME : Mine de fer spathique, fer carbonaté

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Fe CO3
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Rhomboedric
COLOR : Yellow, brown, more scarcely gray or colorless
DIAPHANIETY : Opaque to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreous to pearly
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic crystals, rhombohedra, scalénohedras, often massive
HARDNESS : 3,75-4,25
DENSITY : 3,93

CHEMICAL CLASS : V - Carbonates, nitrates
GROUP : Calcite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 5/B.02-40
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 5.AB.05

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