Millerite

specimen number:
8821959

location:
Perseverance Mine, Leinster, Leonora Shire, Western Australia, Australia

description:
Tight compact metallic crystals of millerite in a cluster without matrix. In very good condition all around with no points of attachment. Choice example for the species.

The Perseverance Mine, located near Leinster in the Leonora Shire of Western Australia, is a world-class nickel deposit with a history dating back to the discovery of gossanous outcrops in 1971. Underground and open-cut mining operations have evolved through multiple phases since commercial extraction began in the late 1970s, managed by various operators before becoming a core part of BHP's Nickel West division. Geologically, the deposit is situated within the Archaean Agnew-Wiluna greenstone belt of the Yilgarn Craton. It represents one of the largest komatiite-hosted nickel sulphide accumulations globally, featuring a massive and heavily disseminated orebody localized at the base of the thick Perseverance Ultramafic Complex. The mineralogy is dominated by primary iron-nickel sulfides such as pyrrhotite and pentlandite, alongside lesser chalcopyrite and magnetite, set within highly serpentinized ultramagic host rocks and deformed structural shear zones.

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