Safflorite : (Co,Ni,Fe)As2
Sophia Mine, Böckelsbach valley, Wittichen, Schenkenzell, Rottweil, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Safflorite twins in iridescent colours with silver grey and blocky skutterudite.
Collection and photo: Stephan Wolfsried
Safflorite is a rare cobalt iron arsenide mineral. In hydrothermal veins of moderate temperature and pressure.
Skutterudite is a cobalt arsenide mineral containing variable amounts of nickel and iron substituting for cobalt. Materials with a skutterudite structure are studied as a low cost thermoelectric material with low thermal conductivity. Typically in medium- to high-temperature hydrothermal veins with other Ni–Co sulfide minerals.